The Truth About Editing
by Rob Parnell

I get a lot of people writing to me who seem confused about the role of editors.

Many writers, especially older writers and (oddly!) journalists, assume that when they submit a manuscript to a publisher, their book will be read for content and if accepted, will then be passed on to an editor to 'clean it up, make sense of the grammar and generally change the words around to make it more intelligent and readable...

Ahem, reality check?

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, even in the big publishing houses editors are becoming a rare breed. And when companies like Harper Collins need an editor, they're just as likely to look for a freelancer to do the job as go to one of their own overworked and underpaid employees.

Why is this? Well, it's cheaper, for a start, to employ an editor on contract than it is to have one on the staff. But the main reason is that it makes much more sense to employ writers who don't need much editing!

Of course, yes, there was a time when in-house editors used to proof every word, edit for sense, delete passages that seemed irrelevant, contact the author and suggest revisions, work with the author to improve the prose etc etc.

But this is rare nowadays, because this kind of hand-holding is far too time consuming for the modern publisher. They need tight, well written stories or articles they can turn around fast. Increasingly, they don't even want authors who need developing. They want genre writers who deliver the goods, near perfect, so that they can get on with the more important business of packaging the product and getting it out to the buying public.

Some writers can now expect their original manuscript (on disk) to become the master copy of the book - ready for release with just a bit of jiggling and formatting - it's literally that good when it arrives at the publishers!

But how can the rest of us compete with that kind of skill?

Well, I suppose it's mostly about care and attention to detail. Many successful authors ask their friends and associates for lots of feedback - as well as proofing and editing help - before they submit their books to their agents or publishers.

But are there alternatives for writers who don't have access to literary friends and helpers?

Well, you've probably noticed that freelance editors, proofers and manuscript assessors seem to be popping up all over the place. It's a growth industry mainly, I would have thought, as a direct result of the publishing industry's insistence on a 99.99% perfect submission.

Editing skills and fees vary widely, as do the type of services offered. If you're ever tempted to engage a freelance editor, make sure you know what you want out of them - and give them a thorough brief as to what you're expecting them to do.

You may not always be at all satisfied with an editor's work and it might not be their fault. It could just that your expectations were inaccurate.

Many editors will correct mistakes and make sense of bad grammar and sentence construction but will leave what they perceive as your 'style' intact - even if they think it doesn't work very well. Remember that editing is not the same as 're-writing', something that certain editors just will not do!

Other editors will specialize in plot fixing - they will literally tear your story apart, moving the action around, deleting characters and generally making you feel miserable and inadequate!

But if that's what your story needs, then you should go with it. That is, unless you think the editor is wrong...

Even just hiring a proof reader can be fraught with difficulty. English in particular has many regional variations - what is considered correct spelling and grammatical usage in the UK is sometimes not acceptable to Americans for instance.

Plus, proof readers - and some editors for that matter - all have their personal foibles. They may correct something over and over that you don't agree is wrong (like your beautiful long sentences for example!) You might get back your manuscript to find it's changed in subtle ways - that seem arbitrary, pedantic or simply takes the life out of your prose.

So beware!

In your quest for the perfect manuscript you may find yourself spending a small fortune having it edited, hacked about and disfigured by people who, well, just aren't YOU!

Because, let's face it, the only person who knows what's best for your manuscript is you - the author - and it's basically your responsibility to get it as perfect as you can.

If you don't think you have the skills to achieve that, you have a duty to keep studying, practising and learning until you can do it for yourself.

It's the only way to seriously compete in this industry!


Have fun and keep writing

Rob@easywaytowrite.com
http://easywaytowrite.com


PS: Of course it would be remiss of me not to mention that we have proven resources that can help you at The Easy Way to Write!

Take a quick look at this link to see: Doing the Write Thing: The Easy Way to Self Edit. http://www.fictionfactor.com/selfediting.html

© Copyright Rob Parnell. All Rights Reserved.

Rob is the editor and webmaster of the Easy Way to Write - a free newsletter for writers wanting to learn to improve their writing skills. He is also the best selling author of the book The Easy Way to Write a Novel (http://easywaytowrite.com/novel.html)

You can visit Rob's writing site here: http://www.easywaytowrite.com