Anna Spargo-Ryan recounts editing her father’s novel
The Australian writer says she feared criticism could damage her relationship with her 77-year-old father before agreeing to help revise his manuscript.
Australian writer Anna Spargo-Ryan has recounted how she edited her 77-year-old father’s novel, initially fearing that criticism could harm their close relationship.
Writing in a first-person opinion essay for The Guardian, Spargo-Ryan said she established ground rules before reviewing the manuscript. Everything was open to suggestion, she said, and her father was not to yell at her. She also separated criticism of the work from criticism of him as a person.
Spargo-Ryan provided feedback chapter by chapter, drawing on shared memories, family anecdotes and local details to help strengthen scenes and characters. She said she was initially cautious in her comments, expecting that her father might react angrily or withdraw his trust.
Instead, she said, he repeatedly revised the manuscript. The novel improved over successive drafts, reaching what Spargo-Ryan described as its ninth or 10th version. She said her father responded positively to increasingly direct criticism and thanked her for the help.
Spargo-Ryan said the process changed her understanding of her father’s approach to achievement. Rather than being perfect on the first attempt, she came to see him as someone who persevered through revision. The novel, about young men, football and friendship, was published this year, although the essay does not identify its title or publisher.
The pair later discussed their experience on a podcast. Spargo-Ryan said she ordered the book when it was published and placed it beside her own books, describing the collection as a record of learning to believe improvement was possible.
