When should you have someone edit?

snooper

8-))?
Joined
May 6, 2003
Posts
3,364
At what stage do you offer a story to an editor?

Does that depend on its length?

When should you offer a story to an editor?
 
I suppose I'm flexible in that I'm not particular. Authors need editors; including authors whose writing and word processing skills aren't well honed.

I have only one preference. That is, to know before editing begins whether or not a story is intended for serialisation. If a short story turns into something more, I can handle it. I don't suddenly become Editzilla. I realise stories can take on a life of their own and expand beyond the original idea. However, I prefer to know if that is the intention. The issue I most often see with serials is continuity. Both detailed notes and a good memory solve that issue. I keep all files for five calendar years and organise serial files a bit differently than short story files. Hence, knowing beforehand saves time.

I want an author to hand me a story when they've taken it as far as their skills will allow. In some cases, the author has excellent creative and technical skills. My task is nothing more than reviewing for sneaky homonyms and random cases of "that" poisoning. In other cases, the author has a wonderful creative ability. However, their technical skills *ahem* bite. In those instances, I spend as much or more time educating the author as I do editing their work. Though it can be time-consuming, I don't mind. As an editor, my job is to ensure their work is suitable for publication. As a writing tutor, my job is to help them improve their work. When someone chooses me as their editor, they get both if needed.
 
Re: Re: When should you have someone edit?

Lady Christabel said:
I want an author to hand me a story when they've taken it as far as their skills will allow.

that is what i do, both with my job and with stories on here .. once i have done all that i can or know how with a story i submit it to an editor for them to critique and correct ... then after that i might have a few questions on some of their comments and its done ...

if only getting a story posted was that easy lol (i am impatient when it comes to the waiting for approval on the site)
 
Re: Re: Re: When should you have someone edit?

Flea said:
that is what i do, both with my job and with stories on here .. once i have done all that i can or know how with a story i submit it to an editor for them to critique and correct ... then after that i might have a few questions on some of their comments and its done ...

Honestly, that's all any editor can ask. Some editors prefer pieces with few errors; I understand and support their choice. Editors are people (I swear) and have varying limits and limitations. I love a challenge and enjoy the back-and-forth discussion while editing. I learn quite a bit about the author as a person and as a writer. With luck, I may learn a bit about me. That information can be very useful in future ventures with the author and in my own writing. We usually iron out issues in 2-3 edits, but I'm never opposed to more. Author/editor is a very real and deep relationship. Once you find an editor and you two go through the literary equivalent of a Vulcan mind meld, work is no longer work; it's bliss.
 
Lady Cristabel put it neatly, "I want an author to hand me a story when they've taken it as far as their skills will allow."

In the real world, where authors are paid, the work is divided into queries, outlines, treatments and, finally, manuscripts. Volunteer editors are probably best used at the manuscript level only. We have no say in whether a query -- from an unknown writer -- will be possible for the supplicant. It could be cruel to encourage even a great idea in a new writer who has no notion how difficult it is to turn concept into written pages.

One new writer presented herself to me recently but there was something literate in her first contact. She had written a story on which she had worked, off and on, for more than a year. She was invited to send it along and, as hoped, it only took a couple of editing sessions to make it into her vision.

That's, "her vision," not mine, which is another goal I set, to stay away from changing a story to something I like rather than something the writer wants expressed.
 
Back
Top