This one goes out to all you writers out there. You slave away at your keyboard for hours, weeks, years in an effort to force out a half-way passable manuscript, and what does your editor do? Come along and tear it to shreds. Unfair and completely heartbreaking, right?
Wrong.
That editor’s job is to make your book the absolute best it can be. They are trying to help you. It is in their job description to honestly tell you how to improve your novel.
This is a particular pet peeve of mine, if you haven’t noticed. I can’t tell you how many writers I’ve heard crying and whining when editors want to make changes to their manuscripts. And then I hear from said editors complaining about how immature their clients are. It’s ridiculous. We should be able to give and receive criticism like mature adults without throwing tantrums.
I’m not saying that sometimes the changes editors suggest aren’t overwhelming and frightening. But you should take their suggestions into serious consideration and be polite. Most of the time writers expect the editor to say, “Wow, this is perfect!”
I’m sorry, but no manuscript is perfect and writers need constructive criticism to improve their craft. You need to learn to accept criticism – no matter how harsh – and say thank you.
It won’t help you to fight over every word changed or punctuation mark that needs corrected. It will only make editors and publishers less likely to want to work with you. And editing is not optional if you want your work to sell.
Learn how to communicate with your editor. Start a dialogue and build a relationship. The two of you need to be on the same wavelength when it comes to your novel and the only way to do that is to discuss it in depth without either of your getting angry at the other. Your editor shouldn’t be your adversary, but your greatest ally.
So in an effort to help you accept your fate and know a bit more about the process, let’s talk editing.
Editing your own work:
Always edit your own work first. ALWAYS. When your manuscript is finished print it out and read it. Pretend the story is someone else’s and you were asked to critique it. Remember:
• Keep your paragraphs as short as possible. You may not always be able to do this, but you should definitely try.
• Reduce adverbs as often as possible.
A well-defined subject, strong verb, and object.
• Avoid the passive voice.
Beautiful giraffes roam the savannah. –active voice The savannah is roamed by beautiful giraffes. –passive voice
Content Editing
Content editors read your manuscript and dissect it. Their job is to look for things like problems in plot development, inconsistent character dialogue and speech, point of view shifts, and readability. Basically a content editor’s job is to help you make sure everything makes sense. This editor rarely pays attention to things like punctuation and spelling errors. If you are lucky they might point them out, but their sole attention is on other issues in your manuscript.
Copy Editing
Unlike content editing, copy editing doesn’t always involve changing large blocks of text. Copy editors, for the most part, follow the five “c’s”, which are intended to make your novel "clear, correct, concise, comprehensible, and consistent." According to one guide, copy editors should "make it say what it means, and mean what it says" Typically, copy editing involves correcting problems with spelling, punctuation, grammar, terminology, jargon, and semantics, and ensuring that the text adheres to the publisher's style.
Line Editing
A line editor checks for grammar, punctuation, spelling, consistency and word usage. This type of editing is generally all most authors think they need – changing punctuation, spelling errors, and grammar. It’s important, I won’t argue that, but other types of editing are just as important.
For more information about editing or editing services try these links:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/author-services/editorial/
http://www.the-efa.org/