Author Dana A. Williams on what Toni Morrison can teach us about editing

[Morrison] lets me make this small talk until ultimately she’s like, “So how’s it going?” And as a writer, she was gentle. I said, “Well, I’m not making as much progress as I would want to. Things are a little bit slower. But I have the title. And things are going to jell because [if] you get the title, you know where you’re going.” And I say, “The House That Toni Built at Random.” … And she goes, “Eh, smart, but too long.” So now my one little celebration also seems to be devastated. And she says, “Toni at Random.” I say, “Well, I don’t know. Can I call you Toni?” And she says, “Well, ‘Chloe at Random,’ no one would get it.” [Editor’s note: Chloe Wofford is Morrison’s birth name.]