Tips from an Editor: When to Trust Your Gut

The “Now What?” Months continue, and we’re shifting our focus to the wide world of publishing! Today, Laurie Weed, freelance writer and editor, shares her three best tips on preparing to work with an editor, including the best ways to disagree:

Writing is hard work—like mentally climbing Everest every day. When you complete a manuscript, you just want to lay down in the snow and sleep at Base Camp for about a month. Once you’ve done that, it’s time to get up. If publication is your ultimate goal, you’re going to need a Book Sherpa.

Like writers, editors come in different styles and it’s important to find a good match. That said, there are a few things all editors wish writers would do to prepare for the final summit—aside from running spell-check like it’s your job (because it is):

Read it aloud. Do this at least once, chapter by chapter, and once again straight through. You will be amazed at all the little things your ear will notice that your eyes did not. It’s also a great way to evaluate that mysterious thing called “flow.” 

If possible, record yourself reading and then take notes while you listen to the recording. While you’re at it, try reading the whole thing in a different layout or font size—not for submission, just to trick your brain into thinking you’re reading something new. One writer I know likes to make her final revisions in a three-column layout and pretend she’s reading it in The New Yorker.

Don’t dread the red (pen). Editors adore their jobs. They love writing and writers, and the opportunity to bring out the best in both. But many writers flush with shame and experience grade-school flashbacks at the mere sight of red ink, no matter how helpful those red marks (or their word-processing equivalent) may be. 

Personally, I find that bright green or a nice turquoise ink works just as well, and somehow softens the dread-red effect. However your editor marks up the manuscript, try not to overreact. Remember, red is the color of love.

Trust your gut. Yes, you should absolutely trust your editor (or find another one), and the process should involve more synergy than pain. Still, there will be revisions and, inevitably, some points on which editor and writer do not see eye-to-eye. 

Before you dig your heels in for a serial-comma standoff, try to listen objectively to your editor’s reasoning. You chose this person, after all, to give your work the polish it needs. However, if a suggested change nags at you like an off-key note in an otherwise lovely composition, you should balk—politely.

Laurie Weed is a longtime freelance writer and editing Sherpani. She is also the co-founder and producer of Tales To Go, a monthly mobile subscription from Travelers’ Tales.

Top photo by Flickr user World T.E.A.M. Sports.