“An editor’s job is to make you, the author, look good and save you from embarrassing mistakes.” — Unknown source
Hiring an editor is like looking in a mirror before you leave the house, checking to make sure everything is where it should be and nothing is showing that shouldn’t be showing. — Marlene Cullen
Editing is like a captain having a good crew to help steer the craft. — Marlene Cullen
Let’s talk about editing. Or, as I like to think: Re-visioning.
Some writers love to edit . . . making their writing better and better.
Other writers loathe to edit . . . finding it tedious and nerve wracking.
Some writers are in the middle, or elsewhere, on the continuum.
The best scenario:
Writers and editors work together as they dovetail their skills and expertise to come up with a product that is ready for publishing.
It’s a collaborative effort.
Editors are totally valuable and necessary to fact-check, spot-check, double-check and to make you, the writer, look good.
A brief overview of editing.
The Revision or Critique Writing Group, working with peers, sharing manuscripts, helping one another to produce polished work.
The Developmental Editor can act as a coach or personal cheerleader and looks for continuity, discrepancies, clarity, and overall story development in terms of character, setting, plot, theme, point of view. Once these areas are addressed, the manuscript is ready for copyediting
Copy editing involves line-by-line checking for grammar, punctuation, spelling, formatting and consistency. A copy editor checks facts; is it likely someone would travel from Mill Valley to Oakland on the Golden Gate Bridge?
Proofreading involves looking at the manuscript for typos, misspellings, inconsistencies in spellings or capitalizing.
Editors and proofreaders want authors to look good and their manuscripts to be polished and professional.
The Write Spot blog has many posts about editing.
Articles about Editing
3 Common Fears of Hiring a Freelance Editor by Hannah de Keijzer (on Jane Friedman’s Blog)
Is It OK to Ask for Before/After Examples from a Freelance Editor? By Hattie Fletcher (also on Jane Friedman’s Blog)
Do You need a developmental editor? By Shirin Yim Leos on The Write Spot Blog
Doubt is the Devil by Matthew Felix. also on The Write Spot Blog
Best wishes for smooth sailing with your writing and with re-visioning.
#justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter
