Some advice on finding an editor.

[BrokenSpokes]

When I started my journey writing and posting my Hard Landing series, I was a complete newbie. Chapter One was the first piece of fiction I ever wrote. In fact, it wasn’t until I was almost ready to post Chapter 03, that I even heard of the editor program. I started poking around the forum and ended up with one of the greatest resources I could have hoped to find. ThisNameIsntTakenYet (known as Taken) PM’ed me after I posted on his editor thread and quickly became indispensable to my process.

You can find an editor who will look for typos, awkward phrases, etc. That’s valuable too, especially if you need help with a one-off story.

However, if you are working on a major series, with multiple chapters, I can’t stress enough how invaluable an editor is with whom you can develop a relationship. Taken quickly became someone I could talk to, about my story, my characters, unrelated topics or even how my life was going. I dare say, he’s become a friend. And since we’ve spent so much time discussing my characters, their backstory, their motives and desires as well as how I developed them in my mind, he has the ability to see when I’ve missed the mark.

Particularly for Chapter six, I was really struggling, and not feeling it. Something was missing, my girls didn’t feel right and I couldn’t put my finger on why. With one comment, Taken made me see where I’d gone wrong, and how to put it right. And he wouldn’t have had that comment in his pocket if we hadn’t spent time discussing the characters together, so he could know them at least partly as well as I do.

In short, an editor can be a partner to your writing, in addition to a spelling/grammar checker. Spend time talking with your editor. Get to know them. Let them get to know you, and what you are trying to do and then a good editor can really make a difference. One the most import traits they should have is curiosity about your story.

My chapters Five and Six wouldn’t be half as good if I hadn’t taken the time and effort to get to know my new friend.

 

[ElectricBlue]

That's a nice acknowledgement. I don't use an editor, but I did have a pair of excellent beta readers who did the same thing - a crisp, precise comment, just when you needed it most. My writing is better because of them, even though they've gone.

 

[Vix_Giovanni]

Yes, a very nice acknowledgement

I only provide editorial service for writing that is otherwise submission ready, but I’m often contacted by writers who need an editor that is managerial and able/willing to co-write. Your post demonstrates that such editors are here, and how very helpful they are! I hope all the writers who are looking for this kind of editing help will find something akin to what you and Taken have developed.

The SO is my editor, but it took him a while to get used to I/T (he still squicks a bit) and my online writing style: for example, I make a handful of purposeful mistakes, such as parallelisms and run-on sentences and colons for semi-colons , which used to frustrate him but he’s getting used to them and understands why I do it. My stories are loosely based on our experiences in finance and law, so sometimes I have to temper his desire for more technical detail (this is fiction, not an opinion piece in Financial Times!). Overall, he’s invaluable to my process.

My latest chapter is dense even for my usual style: David Chase and Terrence Winter-esque. There’s a scene where the main characters go clubbing; in his first read, the SO got misty-eyed about it which confused and amused me. But he pointed out a nuance that I’d overlooked, and his take on it blew my mind! I hadn’t thought of the scene in the way he described at all; together, we revised so his interpretation would be clear to readers. The scene’s now an epiphany of the complex, very deep love between my characters and one of which I’m proudest.

 

[DryLips]

Nice post.

I get what you mean about an editor being invaluable. I’m in the middle of posting a novel with several chapters and have had a difficult time keeping one editor for more than a few chapters. I’m beginning to think it’s me

When I look for an editor, my main request is to proofread and look for grammar mistakes that I haven’t caught. The few editors I have had, have wanted to give me more feedback than that, and I’ve been grateful because their comments changed the way I looked at anything from a paragraph to the whole chapter. A couple of them really dug in and rewrote some of my sentences and paragraphs, giving them more meaning and making them easier to read. I try to be as accommodating as possible with the editors I’ve interacted with, they’ve all be very helpful.

I’m very thankful for the editors I have found, and alas, I’m on the hunt again because my last editor’s schedule became very busy.

I think it’s important for authors to remember that this is a volunteer service and editors have lives.

Thank you editors for taking the time to help us new authors!