Editing
In my last post, I said I’d talk more about editing. Notice there’s no “self-publishing” in the title of this post. That’s because editing is essential for all writers, no matter what route they’re taking to publication.
The Editing Process
Editing is a process mingled throughout the writing process. This is how it goes for me:
(1) First Draft – write loosely, quickly and steadily. Correct some, glaring, problems as I go. For other issues that will be more fiddly, make notes to myself (I write in Scrivener and I always create a chapter called “notes” for things like this).
(2) Leave it alone for a while! Essential. You must get some distance from your writing. There’s no exact period of time to do this, but I’d say at least a month. Work on something else. Practice your writing more. Learn more.
(3) First re-write – I usually open a whole new Scrivener project for this and populate it chapter-by-chapter. If the chapter is still good, and makes the cut, it gets put in with, often, some small changes. If it’s not good, it gets chopped, or completely re-written. I go through the whole manuscript like this until I have what I guess you could call the Second Draft.
(4) Usually at this stage I seek outside eyes. This could be paying for a manuscript critique, getting your book to beta readers, or – if you’re really brave – submitting to agents / editors. What follows is a long process of getting feedback, making changes and, usually (for me) doing the whole “new Scrivener file” and re-import thing a couple more times. I lose count of drafts in this process, but both OIM and APS were re-written five to six times before they went to “final” edits.
(5) Final Edits – If you publish traditionally this should come with the package. It certainly did in my case. There was still much work to do – the editing feels different when you realize “this is it – any niggling concerns, or things I’ve been putting off, have to be fixed in this round because after this the readers get it.” This is no different for me, now, self-publishing APS, except I pay for my editor. For your reference, this will be the single largest expenditure I have in self-publishing and will, in fact, be as big as everything else combined. As it should be (IMHO). Good editing is critical.
APS is with its editor right now. Yikes! I’ve worked with this editor before, and she sent me a seventeen-page editorial letter, so I’m prepared to be hit again with a tonne of work to do before the book’s ready for formatting and designing, and selling. And that’s as it should be too – I want to be proud of this book once it’s out.
Types of editing:
(A) First are big-picture manuscript critique type edits that deal with storyline and plot and pacing and overall writing style and character development. These are essential and for these you need a very qualified, very smart editor. In my personal opinion, your mother, or sister, or best friend can’t do these types of edits for you. Someone out there may have a very special mother, or sister, or BFF, who can do these things, but I think they would be the exception that proves the rule.
(B) You may go through a couple of rounds of the above-type of editing, but it should start to narrow down, until you get to line edits. This is, as it sounds, a pickier, line-by-line edit of smaller things. In my case my editor and I will work on big picture stuff and, after I revise the book, we’ll both read it line-by-line to see if the issues are improved and also to look for inconsistencies, issues – really anything that might throw a reader off.
(C) Copy-editing. This is the small stuff that you really do need to sweat. Grammar, spelling, typos, even lay-out glitches. This is fine-tooth comb stuff. In this case, if you have a friend who’s a professional-type editor, I think they could do it. This is just my opinion, but this type of editing is less emotional, less subjective (to me, anyway). Having said that, you may be surprised at how bent out of shape you get over little things. Comma usage is a huge one. Also American or Canadian spelling? There are lots of little conventions that your copy editor may interpret one way, and you might another. If you’re working with a traditional publisher, I’d recommend accepting all the copy editing suggestions that don’t kill you, and asking nicely if the ones that really do bother you immensely, can be done your way. In other words, pick your battles. In theory, in self-publishing, you get to decide, however, it’s important to ask yourself why you’re resisting a change. Is it out of habit? Is the copy editor’s way better? I still think you should take most of their suggestions and only stick to your guns on things that are very important to you and that you can justify.
Editing Attitude
Which leads me to my final thought on editing. Attitude. It’s really important to go in wanting feedback. Being excited to get it. Thinking of the relationship as a partnership. Both of you want your book to be better, stronger – kick ass! Don’t hope for no changes. Hope for great new ideas, suggestions, prompts. Don’t expect the editor to solve your problems, but expect them to point them out in a way that stimulates you to solve them yourself.
Many people have warned me that as cumbersome as the agent / editor submission process is, it does have the advantage of making sure your book is really ready by the time it’s published. With OIM I submitted, got feedback, fixed it, moved forward, got more feedback, re-wrote, etc. Because I was originally going to traditionally publish APS, it’s gone through the same process, and I truly think it’s ready for final edits now. My challenge will be making sure future books are also ready. I’ll have to be hard on myself. I’ll have to ask difficult questions. I’ll have to rely on beta readers and truly take their thoughts into account (I’m so lucky to already have five smart, book-loving beta readers lined up – feel free to send me your name if you’d like to be one too).
I feel confident I can do it, though. In the past, the decision to re-write / revise or give up has always been up to me, and I’ve always rewritten. There’s no reason to think I won’t do the same in the future.
My advice to anyone still figuring this out, is keep going – writing and revising – until you literally can’t think of any way to make your book better. Then either submit it or hire someone to work with you. There are amazing freelance editors out there – many are bestselling authors in their own rights, others work for traditional editors on contract – these days it’s completely possible to buy great editing, and I have a list of freelance editors I can give you, if you’re interested.
