“Today,” she said after a few seconds, “we’re going to talk about editing. Do you want to do it here, or do you want to go to a bar?”

He looked at her, his brow furrowing. “Why a bar?”

“You might need a drink. The things we’re going to talk about are kind of heavy.”

“Heavy how?”

She took a deep breath. Stick to writing, at least at first. “A novel is like a child. You pour your heart and soul into creating them; building them up, ...