Do You Use an Editor?

[drksideofthemoon]

Another thread got me thinking, how many writers here use an editor, and why, or why not.

Me: No, I'm selfish, I refuse to relinquish any control of my work to anyone.

 

[impressive]

Not really. I may have a friend do a read through if I'm struggling with something, though.

 

[JamesSD]

Another thread got me thinking, how many writers here use an editor, and why, or why not.

Me: No, I'm selfish, I refuse to relinquish any control of my work to anyone.

I'm in sort of a similar situation. I prefer proofreading to editing, and since proofreading is a rather thankless job it isn't always easy to find someone.

My best luck has been sending "advance copies" to fans or other authors who then can tell me if I have any serious issues.

 

[cloudy]

I don't, not really, although I do have a couple of people that graciously read my stuff for typos, etc., before I submit it.

I edit, and I promise you, I in no way imaginable take control of someone's story. I fix grammar errors, etc., and simply point out things that might not work for me.

I think that maybe your view of editors is a little skewed, or you haven't worked with a good one yet.

 

[sophia jane]

I have an editor, and I also edit for him. It's a good arrangement, and I think has made me a much, much better writer.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

If I may glom on to this, if you do use an editor, in what way is it helpful and/or useful?

 

[drksideofthemoon]

Glom Away...

If I may glom on to this, if you do use an editor, in what way is it helpful and/or useful?

Good question!

 

[sophia jane]

If I may glom on to this, if you do use an editor, in what way is it helpful and/or useful?

Well, for me he fixes the obvious stuff that I miss. But more than that, he helps me develop my characters more, calls me on things that don't work like bad detailing or awkward positions, etc. In one instance, with my story Pleasing Ellie, he helped me completely rework the story. Because all of his help (and all of the rewrites I've done), my first drafts are now much better than they used to be.

 

[kendo1]

I try to edit my own work, and help out some folks with proofreading. Mainly typos. I prefer to let the authour do the editing, it's their work.

I've recently had a problem submitting a story. Evil and Shanglan have been kind enough to help. Evil helped with chapter 1 and it is up.
Shanglan, 'incredible' is not a strong enough word.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

No, probably not....

I don't, not really, although I do have a couple of people that graciously read my stuff for typos, etc., before I submit it.

I edit, and I promise you, I in no way imaginable take control of someone's story. I fix grammar errors, etc., and simply point out things that might not work for me.

I think that maybe your view of editors is a little skewed, or you haven't worked with a good one yet.

No, probably not, my only experience with an editor was one where they wanted to change the story to be more of their own personal fantasy...that was the only time I tried an editor...

 

[cloudy]

No, probably not, my only experience with an editor was one where they wanted to change the story to be more of their own personal fantasy...that was the only time I tried an editor...

A good editor realizes that it's your story.

When I edit, I "track changes" in MS Word, and anything I do is in red. I also write some "notes" at the end, specifying what didn't and as important, what did work for me, with only suggestions for changes.

Of course, the other end of the spectrum is that an author has to be willing to at least consider the things an editor says.

 

[Halo_n_horns]

If I may glom on to this, if you do use an editor, in what way is it helpful and/or useful?

If you stare at your own stuff for too long, or if you're just too involved and micro-managing about the project, then its best to have someone outside of the project look at it and give an outside opinion to help with the tweaks.

When I was editing I usually gave my writers two options: Do you want full technical and opinionated editing, or just grammar, punctuation-type editing?

Editing for Lit writers isn't like editing for a publishing house. The editors here have the ability to choose if they're going for technical editing, conceptual editing, or both.

Ultimately, on Lit, it is the writer's final decision. But I strongly recommend an editor whether or not you'll take their efforts and make serious use of them.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

A good editor realizes that it's your story.

When I edit, I "track changes" in MS Word, and anything I do is in red. I also write some "notes" at the end, specifying what didn't and as important, what did work for me, with only suggestions for changes.

Of course, the other end of the spectrum is that an author has to be willing to at least consider the things an editor says.

Would you be interested in editing a 20,000 word erotic western? (Montana Summer Ch08)

 

[sophia jane]

Would you be interested in editing a 20,000 word erotic western? (Montana Summer Ch08)

I'd have volunteered till you said 20,000 words.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

I'd have volunteered till you said 20,000 words.

Thanks, it the thought that counts....as I said in another post somewhere...the more I write, the more I write...

It's about 50 pages in MS Word 12pt font

 

[MichelleLovesTo]

Another thread got me thinking, how many writers here use an editor, and why, or why not.

Me: No, I'm selfish, I refuse to relinquish any control of my work to anyone.

Absolutely. I don't consider it relinquishing anything -- I have final say. My preferred method is to submit the story in Word and have the editor use the editing pane to make suggestions -- I can accept or reject with a tap of my touchpad.

I think all authors do better with a trusted editor. You can usually see a professional writer's creations take a nosedive right about the time they become big and essentially uneditable.

 

[MichelleLovesTo]

If I may glom on to this, if you do use an editor, in what way is it helpful and/or useful?

It helps give a fresh perspective and a new set of eyes to catch eff ups.

I consider it a relationship. You find an editor who "gets" you, who has similar tastes, and who is honest enough to tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly. I think a good editing relationship involves the editor essentially thinking the writer has talent and a writer who is willing to accept that the story probably could be tweaked.

When I get edits, I read them and then walk away for a while. I then come back and take it one comment/edit at a time. Because the guy who edits me is terrific, and a talented writer in his own right, I easily accept about 80% of his edits -- 98% of the grammar/punctuation suggestions. There will be a certain percentage I don't agree with and reject -- and that's as it should be.

I end up with a story which is still my own, and with my voice still intact, but more polished and richer than if I'd gone it alone.

 

[Alex756]

I use an editor, not though the volunteer editor program though, that worked POORLY for me. But people I know. Its nice to get the opinion in from a second person or third. Some stuff I toss, some stuff I use, some stuff I think about long and hard and develope a third way of doing it.

I also read outloud, alot. My ear is much better than my eyes at reading.

~Alex

 

[MichelleLovesTo]

I use an editor, not though the volunteer editor program though, that worked POORLY for me. But people I know. Its nice to get the opinion in from a second person or third. Some stuff I toss, some stuff I use, some stuff I think about long and hard and develope a third way of doing it.

I also read outloud, alot. My ear is much better than my eyes at reading.

~Alex

Occasionally I use a mini-recorder.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

Absolutely. I don't consider it relinquishing anything -- I have final say. My preferred method is to submit the story in Word and have the editor use the editing pane to make suggestions -- I can accept or reject with a tap of my touchpad.

I think all authors do better with a trusted editor. You can usually see a professional writer's creations take a nosedive right about the time they become big and essentially uneditable.

You are probably correct, someone here has graciously accepted to edit my current story, so I'll see how it goes.

I think the key word is trust....

 

[Stella_Omega]

No, probably not, my only experience with an editor was one where they wanted to change the story to be more of their own personal fantasy...that was the only time I tried an editor...

Then they were a reader, pretending to be an editor.
I edit meticulously- and I can tell which of my published stories had an outside editor, they are the ones that read better.
An editor can concentrate on any aspect of your work that you request. One editor and I have swapped stories to check for period details specifically.
One person I know has some sort of genius touch in untangling sentences, straigthening out sytnax, and cleaning up tense.
No matter how good you think you are- another pair of eyes can see things you have read so often that they are invisible to you, by nature of their familiarity...

You are probably correct, someone here has graciously accepted to edit my current story, so I'll see how it goes.

I think the key word is trust....

Here's hoping you will be pleased and fulfilled!

 

[SlickTony]

I have earned my bite and sup by unofficial copy editing for people for so many years, it has never occurred to me to get an editor for stuff I've written. I am my own editor. However, I have occasionally run my stuff past a friend who's submitted a few stories here, although he won't come here and post no matter how many time I've urged him to (he has a demanding day job) to see if they worked.

 

[Weird Harold]

You are probably correct, someone here has graciously accepted to edit my current story, so I'll see how it goes.

I think the key word is trust....

It's more compatibility than trust tha makes a good editor.

Personally, I use a minimum of five different editors and use the compare files function of MS Word and my original, unedited copy of the file, to combine all of the changes into a single file where I can approve/disapprove changes and compare the comments each editor makes.

A good editor will ask as many questions about what you wrote as make changes to what you wrote -- "What impression are you trying to make with this passage?" "Are you sure that's the word you want to use?" "Where did your character get Corn Flakes sixty years before Kellog invented them?" etc.

But in the end, the final choice is always the author's -- as long as you retain a copy of your unedited story you can accept or reject an editor's advice in whole or in part.

I use multiple editors because I've found that every editor finds different things "wrong" with a story and where they do agree on what's wrong, they have different opinions on how to fix it.

All seven editors that worked on "Two Bags For The Bride" objected to the phrase "as dark as the inside of a black cat in a coal mine" because they said it doesn't make any sense -- I kept the phrase anyway because it was my grandmother's favorite exression for "very dark" and it didn't need to "make sense."

Editors are like the Grammar Check in MS Word -- annoying at times, but more useful than not.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

Harold,

I liked the phrase, that makes perfect sense to me, and touches like that are what set some stories apart...

I will give this editor a try and see what comes of it...

Brian

 

[Tom Collins]

That phrase makes sense to me too, WH.
I definatly use an editor! For all the reasons listed above.