To Other Authors: Do You Use an Editor?

[BonnevilleFlats]

I put this thread on this board rather than the author's hangout because it seems like more writers talk about writing here. So far I've posted four stories here and haven't used a volunteer editor. My line by line editing is decent, IMO. There aren't too many errors that get past me in a 10,000 word story. I didn't think an erotic story posted on a public site was important enough to warrant the use of an editor. But I see that many writers here have used an editor.

My questions for writers are 1) have you used an editor for stories posted on lit? Why or why not? 2) What has your experience been? Do you feel that an editor improved your story or not? 3) Did an editor mostly work with your line by line issues or did they go more into things like plot structure, characterization, etc...?

 

[sr71plt]

I use my own editor from outside of the Web site, not anyone claiming to be an editor on Literotica. I am a trained editor, but no one can edit themselves. You don't see everything that you wrote yourself correctly--your mind will read something as was intended; not what actually is there.

 

[annanova]

Oh good heavens, yes.

1) I've worked with an editor because, no matter how good my writing might be, another set of eyes can only improve it. My editor has also helped me to tone down my natural sarcasm and make my characters likeable.

2) The experience has been entirely positive. See my above note on sarcasm.

3) He mostly works with me on line-by-line issues - making sure I'm not becoming repetitive, but also keeping my characters real and likeable. He leaves my plots alone.

 

[sr71plt]

- delete - a repeat because the system is playing games on what it has posted.

 

[PennLady]

I always use an editor, even if it's just my husband giving the story a quick review. I always want a second set of eyes on my story even though I have pretty clean copy. I'm kind of competitive with myself -- I hate to post stories with mistakes and I know it's easy to miss mistakes in your own work. Not so much misspellings as homophones and things like that. It's also helpful for finding continuity errors, in plot and character.

Generally, yes, I feel using an editor has improved a story. Even if I don't use all the suggested changes, having something flagged makes me think a little more about whatever the phrase or word is and whether it should be changed.

Since I have pretty clean copy as far as the mechanics go, I'm usually looking for someone to be more of what we call a beta reader -- someone to look over the story for content or character issues, although if someone finds a punctuation error, I appreciate them telling me.

 

[MichaelWest]

Yes. I concur with the other sentiments given. I know I cannot find all my mistakes or catch what my mind thinks I wrote versus what I actually wrote. I rely on a volunteer editor here. I appreciate they are amateurs who volunteer, not paid professionals. If you can be given some of their time, I feel you truly can benefit. I also have beta-readers who are my friends. They sometimes serve as a reality check, sometimes as raving fans and often as virtual editors.

 

[PacoFear]

My questions for writers are 1) have you used an editor for stories posted on lit? Why or why not? 2) What has your experience been? Do you feel that an editor improved your story or not? 3) Did an editor mostly work with your line by line issues or did they go more into things like plot structure, characterization, etc...?

if you're talking about using one of the folks who volunteer over at the Editors Forum, it's kind of a mixed bag. I say this as someone who has volunteered there from time to time. The editors aren't vetted in any way; we're just helpful folk willing to pitch in for free. It's up to you to find someone who meets your expectations in terms of skills, style, and disposition. Post a request for the kind of help you're looking for. (There's an etiquette to it. Read the Editors Forum FAQ.) When people offer to edit, read THEIR postings as a measure of their work product.

I do my own copy editing. (Write it. Put it away. Come back to it in a week.) Like PennLady rose, I have dished to beta readers for character/dialog insights. If you find the right person, another Lit author you enjoy reading perhaps, you can accelerate each other's learning curves.

G'luck,

PF

 

[Bramblethorn]

I put this thread on this board rather than the author's hangout because it seems like more writers talk about writing here. So far I've posted four stories here and haven't used a volunteer editor. My line by line editing is decent, IMO. There aren't too many errors that get past me in a 10,000 word story. I didn't think an erotic story posted on a public site was important enough to warrant the use of an editor. But I see that many writers here have used an editor.

My questions for writers are 1) have you used an editor for stories posted on lit? Why or why not? 2) What has your experience been? Do you feel that an editor improved your story or not? 3) Did an editor mostly work with your line by line issues or did they go more into things like plot structure, characterization, etc...?

Skimming through the first page (3663 words) of 'Triangled Up in Blue', some of the technical issues an editor might have picked up:

"plus size" as adjective - pretty sure this should be "plus-size".

"I breathed in her scent., an intoxicating combination of cigarettes, wine and perfume." - errant full stop after "scent".

'"You never know," She said.' - decapitalise "She".

"My tongued circled the pinkish brown areoles" - "tongue".

These are very minor, but they're the sort of thing that are much more easily picked up by a second party. I'm very fussy about these issues, so every story I post here gets checked by my partner first. She also picks up continuity errors and the occasional case where I just didn't explain something as clearly as I thought I had.

(And yeah, errors still slip through, but very rarely.)

 

[soflabbwlvr]

I do my own copy editing. I have a beta reader who brutally critiques my work before I begin editing. If a piece requires substantial rewrites, I send it off to her a second time prior to editing the copy.

In the past I had someone who did the copy editing, but she had to leave the site due to personal reasons. I subsequently used a handful of volunteer editors from the editors forum, with varying degrees of success (and cooperation). About 9 months ago I realized I wasn't getting many edits back on the returned copy, and most of the ones I did get were obvious. At that point I just decided to cut out the middle man and do it myself.

 

[PacoFear]

Another thing to keep in mind when using an editor: a decent share of them posture themselves as teachers more than copy-fixing peons. I fall into the former camp. I'm willing to help fill in the gaps of a writer's grammar and punctuation knowledge. I'm not interested in fixing the same errors over and over again. Repeating the same gaffs is just laziness on the writer's part and I've let some folks go for it. Other editors do the same.

 

[Ironiclaconic]

I don't use one, but know I should. The others are right that you can't catch all your own mistakes, or don't realize when your writing is unclear. The challenge is the time and effort needed to find a good editor with whom I can work well, for free. Seems a lot to ask of someone.

 

[MichaelWest]

I don't use one, but know I should. The others are right that you can't catch all your own mistakes, or don't realize when your writing is unclear. The challenge is the time and effort needed to find a good editor with whom I can work well, for free. Seems a lot to ask of someone.

Professionally I know the value of teamwork and having a partner at your back. I have been very lucky with all three volunteer editors. One graduated college I think and drop off the site, the other two have busy lives as do I and give me their time as they can. It can be very frustrating to wait on them, but then I make them wait as I find time to write it! So I think it is part of the maturity as a writer, to let them work and move to the next Chapters or project.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Another thing to keep in mind when using an editor: a decent share of them posture themselves as teachers more than copy-fixing peons. I fall into the former camp. I'm willing to help fill in the gaps of a writer's grammar and punctuation knowledge. I'm not interested in fixing the same errors over and over again. Repeating the same gaffs is just laziness on the writer's part and I've let some folks go for it. Other editors do the same.

Paco is right. There is a chasm between copy and literary editing. Copy editing; correcting punctuation, grammar and tense, is mind-numbing and the writer should try to copy edit their work as much as possible before seeking an 'editor'.

Literary editing, giving advice on how the pacing, intrigue etc. pans out is the key to a good story. Some people here call it beta reading but the result is the same.

 

[slyc_willie]

Another thing to keep in mind when using an editor: a decent share of them posture themselves as teachers more than copy-fixing peons. I fall into the former camp. I'm willing to help fill in the gaps of a writer's grammar and punctuation knowledge. I'm not interested in fixing the same errors over and over again. Repeating the same gaffs is just laziness on the writer's part and I've let some folks go for it. Other editors do the same.

I've had work professionally edited in the past, to the point where I know what to look for in my writing now. That is not to say I catch every mistake. Of course I don't. But the ones that get through -- usually -- are minor.

I have never used an editor for my stories on Lit. Not technically, anyway. I've been part of a chain story in which all the participants read everyone else's chapters, mainly for continuity reasons, but also as friendly editors. That said, I feel I've done a pretty good job of catching the majority of my mistakes. One thing I do that is helpful to me is, once a story is finished, I change the font style and size and re-read it. I also let a story sit for a few days at least, then come back to it. Between those two methods, I catch the majority of my own grammatical and continuity errors.

 

[JackLuis]

When I first started I didn't use an editor, until a reader asked "WHy, WHy WHy" did I make so many mistakes!

The truth is I can't type or spill so getting help was necessary.

I have used several VE's and it helped my work a lot.

I wrote a story about a VE as a tribute

My New Best Friend

 

[lovecraft68]

Whenever I can, but they're not easy to come by here.

But even if you can't find an "editor" you can have anothr author(if they are willing to) or a friend that knows you write or even your spouse to look it over.

You will be amazed at what a second pair of eyes can see.

 

[LadyVer]

Interesting. Recently, I started helping a Lit author with editing. I don't have a background in professional editing. I majored in French, minored in English and my work experience has mainly been in financial services where I produced financial reports, anywhere from a few pages to annual reports that were around 200 pages. The reports included graphs, tables, charts, photos and logos, etc, which I incorporated with the text using Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

My point is that even though half the text was given to me in final form from the published versions of industry and corporate reports, the other half of the text was usually submitted to me in draft form by analysts and managers. There was a lot of proofing and redrafting to arrive at the final product. And it was time-consuming and a PITA at times. What I've found in my experience with editing on Lit is that I never realized how much editing is involved in writing fiction. That may sound naive, but I just assumed most writers used the mechanics of writing as they wrote. That probably is very naive. I'm glad I've had the opportunity to do some editing on Lit but I don't think it's something I would do a lot of as it takes a lot of time and there's no compensation, but it has been good experience and interesting.

 

[Saxon_Hart]

After many failed attempts at using a volunteer editor from lit I was approached by someone who said they'd be willing to edit my work. I took him up on his offer and am damn glad I did. The volunteers I tried either only half ass looked things over or never returned the stories. Once I had found one I liked and when I sent a second story I never heard from them again. I still get spam from one that I used early on.
When my current editor red marked the shit out of the first story I sent I knew this one was out to improve my work, not just get a mention in the foreword. I even have an outline from an idea he had that I am going to develop.

 

[i_would]

When my current editor red marked the shit out of the first story I sent I knew this one was out to improve my work, not just get a mention in the foreword. I even have an outline from an idea he had that I am going to develop.

At least it seems you came over the shock well

I haven't used an editor on lit but I'm sure I'd feel somewhat shocked to get my work back like that. Your labour of love, ripped apart just like that. However it does show that editor is thorough indeed.

A common heard complaint of editors here is "I edited their work, but all my edits were rejected!" It's just sad when that happens. Editors put all that effort in going through a story, and then it's for nought.

 

[sr71plt]

A common heard complaint of editors here is "I edited their work, but all my edits were rejected!" It's just sad when that happens. Editors put all that effort in going through a story, and then it's for nought.

That one's fairly easy to solve. I don't go back and read the posted story, so I don't know what the author has accepted or rejected I just know when I receive another of those to edit and then I can see what they have absorbed and not absorbed in the habitual changes I suggested in their earlier story(ies).

 

[MatthewVett]

No. I usually just look over it myself. I've tried a few times, but they've never gotten back to me in time or given me good feedback, so I've mostly just given up on the idea.

I wouldn't mind trying if I could find some fast and critical, but until then, I'm my own editor.

 

[Tx Tall Tales]

I've only used an editor on 5 stories. I should, no matter how much effort I put into self-editing, I always find errors after the fact.

Three editor efforts were fiascos. Two were very good, including the latest, for my Last Boy Scout series. If I had the patience, I'd use them more often.

For mainstream writing, I used editors and beta-readers. To be honest, I don't put the same effort into the work on Lit, I'm usually happy with 'good-enough'.

 

[Squafdonoboles]

An Editor?

OMG, and all this time I've been writing stories with Notepad!

 

[Bramblethorn]

OMG, and all this time I've been writing stories with Notepad!

Real authors use vi

 

[40Eamy]

My first story on lit quite literally tanked because I a) didn't check my own work and b) didn't bother with and editor. My stories since then have had an editor who helped me with the simple stuff I should know like grammar and spelling. I got some suggestions about characters, plots and such, which was nice, but kept my own.

I want to edit my own work as much as I can, so I'm trying to learn how lol.