Editorial Input!
If you are unfamiliar with the terms beta reader, structural editor, copy editor and proof reader or you don’t see the need to have your book edited – this is probably a most important blog for you to read.
A BOOK IS A TEAM EFFORT.
I don’t know of a single (current) great writer who doesn’t depend heavily on editorial input. Terry Pratchett allegedly used seven trusted and skilled editors. I'd say that’s about right.
You are blind to your mistakes. Maybe you’ll self-publish and what could have become a priceless gem, cherished by readers, will join the millions of books that sell less than ten copies and sink into obscurity.
Recently I was asked to review a friend’s already published book. I couldn’t get past the first page let alone review it. I was gutted that someone had put so much effort into something only to have produced a work that people would reject as unreadable.
To make matters worse I phoned the writer and offered to edit it for free. The writer was profoundly shocked that I would even suggest that the book wasn’t completely perfect.
As an artist I can paint a picture and not have to pass it round several people for comments and adjustment before I finish it. Books don’t work like that.
In an ideal world you’ll pass early chapters, scenes, even whole manuscripts to friends skilled in editing or critiquing fiction. These people are beta readers and you need about half a dozen of them.
What makes these people valuable is their knowledge of fiction writing and their supportive comments regarding your work. From the very beginning of the editorial process to the end you need people who respect you enough to tear your work apart.
“I don’t understand that sentence.”
“Why did she do that? Am I missing something?”
“I don’t think he’d do this – he’s not that sort of person.”
That’s the polite stuff :) When beta readers are highly skilled you’ll get...
“Those three chapters have to go. Why are they even in there?”
“These characters all sound like the same person.”
“Too convenient. It looks like you ran out of ideas there.”
And my personal favourites...
“Gary, there’s probably a story in there somewhere, and I know you wrote it in a rush but look, this first line isn’t even in English.”
“It’s lovely to see this character back in action; she’s a real favourite of mine but didn’t she die in chapter four?” (Beware cutting and pasting errors.)
“Gary, are you writing for readers, or working through a personal issue here? Consider therapy before writing another book.”
As you can see from the above, profound and lasting friendships can emerge from critiquing. Beta reading doesn’t only strengthen someone’s book; it is a valuable tool to improve your own writing. Offer to beta other writers’ work and you’ll see what I mean.
Think of the first draft of your manuscript as a lump of rock vaguely resembling a human form. Now your betas have helped you turn it into a half-finished sculpture. It’s time to move on.
Structural Edits
Structural/copy edits vary in style, take more effort and are a much bigger ask of someone.
An editor will look at a lot of elements including:
Time line
Story arc
Pace, tension, immersion, humour
Character arcs, consistency, development etc
Is the book correctly written for the intended audience and suitably accessible?
Are the right narrative techniques used?
Ambiguities: where does it need to be made clearer?
Is it the right length?
Sentence structure, attributions
And tons of other stuff
The golden rule is to listen to what editors say. If someone asks for a change (and they all ask for lots of them), they’ll often give a reason.
“You’ll need to explain why the bus took so long to get there. As it is, the reader will be confused: I was.”
If you can’t give a solid reason why a change should not be made – make the change. The editors are your friends. They see your work through other people’s eyes. If they don’t see what you are trying to say, you must change it until they do.
It’s worth pointing out that for every hour a reader reads, the writer has spent over a hundred hours* producing that hour’s worth of reading and went on to add another hundred or more in editing.
*Muffy College, Cambridge can be read in 5 hours. Each hour of reading took me 272 hours to write and edit or 1,360 hours in total – more than half in editing. In addition structural editors put in about 110-140 hours (between them) for a ~50-70,000 word book.
Some changes can be made with quick fixes, “The bus was caught in roadworks. I did mention that but I’ll stress it again so it’s clearer.”. Others mean changing the whole book into a different narrative style or building an entire new thread throughout the story.
You soon learn to give in and make changes – particularly when you see how much better the book is going to be.
Some notes of caution – you are the captain of the book: retain control.
You don’t need to make every change suggested: don’t make any unless you’re sure they are necessary. One editor may suggest things that conflict with others.
If two of them point out the same flaw, it’s probably time to make a change. If they all say different things, sift through and choose what you think are those changes that will work best for the intended audience.
If possible, get the editors together, in person, on the net or whatever and talk every last detail through. Let them argue among themselves – it really helps sort out the suggestions that are objective and those that are subjective. Structural editors are human! and can make mistakes in what is a complicated and taxing activity.
Sometimes they will miss something you thought obvious – maybe they were tired. But your readers will have had long days at the office, or whatever, too. If an editor missed something critical – your readers may: do something about it.
Last ... some editors will just not get your book or cope with your chosen narrative style for it. It happens. It is only an issue if they’re the sort of people you are aiming the book at – then that editor becomes your most precious resource.
Now your book is looking so much better. As a sculpture it is recognisable, not just as a human form, but a particular person, with all their gesture and form clearly visible.
But it’s not finished by a long way.
Copy editing:
Looks at sentence structure, clarity, minor ambiguities, repetition, choice of words etc. This is painstaking hard work and requires training, practice and a deep understanding of grammar and language. Don’t be surprised if your copy editor finds structural errors too.
Your copy editor will require a detailed style sheet clearly stating your choices – and will sometimes challenge them.
Proofreading
Really? after all that?
Yes, this is the final polish. After all the work above there will still be errors in spelling, spacing and punctuation etc. Please note that very few works, even from the best publishing houses, go out without some errors. Since the recession I’ve noticed more and more even in best-selling books. We’ve all seen them. Two spelling errors in one book is pretty good going, just a bit tragic if they’re both on the first page.
More often than not these are errors that a spell check won’t find. “She”, rather than “He”, “To”, rather than “Too”, for instance. Double spaces, wonky indents, “”, rather than “, can be found; there are loads of things that a proof reader will pick up on.
Proof reading requires the concentration. and pedantry of a computer programmer. (Proofread that last line – two errors.) Proofreaders will need your style sheet.
There are no shortcuts and it pays to go through the manuscript several times using your ‘search’ function. For instance, check every ‘it’s’ is correct and check for double spaces. There are many of these little tricks, but they don’t replace the real thing.
Read you manuscript at least once with non-printing characters visible.
People develop the most complicated systems to proofread. One particularly brilliant proofreader (now retired) read each sentence from beginning to end but read the book from back to front – upside down. This way she was never distracted by content.
In self-publishing there is another stage of editing. Preparing a book for electronic and print-on-demand requires formatting. Formatting can produce some ghastly errors. You’ll need to check everything (and get others to check too). That does mean reading the whole thing through again – thoroughly.
Note: style choice: British English, US punctuation, no proofreading, lol...
A BOOK IS A TEAM EFFORT.
I don’t know of a single (current) great writer who doesn’t depend heavily on editorial input. Terry Pratchett allegedly used seven trusted and skilled editors. I'd say that’s about right.
You are blind to your mistakes. Maybe you’ll self-publish and what could have become a priceless gem, cherished by readers, will join the millions of books that sell less than ten copies and sink into obscurity.
Recently I was asked to review a friend’s already published book. I couldn’t get past the first page let alone review it. I was gutted that someone had put so much effort into something only to have produced a work that people would reject as unreadable.
To make matters worse I phoned the writer and offered to edit it for free. The writer was profoundly shocked that I would even suggest that the book wasn’t completely perfect.
As an artist I can paint a picture and not have to pass it round several people for comments and adjustment before I finish it. Books don’t work like that.
In an ideal world you’ll pass early chapters, scenes, even whole manuscripts to friends skilled in editing or critiquing fiction. These people are beta readers and you need about half a dozen of them.
What makes these people valuable is their knowledge of fiction writing and their supportive comments regarding your work. From the very beginning of the editorial process to the end you need people who respect you enough to tear your work apart.
“I don’t understand that sentence.”
“Why did she do that? Am I missing something?”
“I don’t think he’d do this – he’s not that sort of person.”
That’s the polite stuff :) When beta readers are highly skilled you’ll get...
“Those three chapters have to go. Why are they even in there?”
“These characters all sound like the same person.”
“Too convenient. It looks like you ran out of ideas there.”
And my personal favourites...
“Gary, there’s probably a story in there somewhere, and I know you wrote it in a rush but look, this first line isn’t even in English.”
“It’s lovely to see this character back in action; she’s a real favourite of mine but didn’t she die in chapter four?” (Beware cutting and pasting errors.)
“Gary, are you writing for readers, or working through a personal issue here? Consider therapy before writing another book.”
As you can see from the above, profound and lasting friendships can emerge from critiquing. Beta reading doesn’t only strengthen someone’s book; it is a valuable tool to improve your own writing. Offer to beta other writers’ work and you’ll see what I mean.
Think of the first draft of your manuscript as a lump of rock vaguely resembling a human form. Now your betas have helped you turn it into a half-finished sculpture. It’s time to move on.
Structural Edits
Structural/copy edits vary in style, take more effort and are a much bigger ask of someone.
An editor will look at a lot of elements including:
Time line
Story arc
Pace, tension, immersion, humour
Character arcs, consistency, development etc
Is the book correctly written for the intended audience and suitably accessible?
Are the right narrative techniques used?
Ambiguities: where does it need to be made clearer?
Is it the right length?
Sentence structure, attributions
And tons of other stuff
The golden rule is to listen to what editors say. If someone asks for a change (and they all ask for lots of them), they’ll often give a reason.
“You’ll need to explain why the bus took so long to get there. As it is, the reader will be confused: I was.”
If you can’t give a solid reason why a change should not be made – make the change. The editors are your friends. They see your work through other people’s eyes. If they don’t see what you are trying to say, you must change it until they do.
It’s worth pointing out that for every hour a reader reads, the writer has spent over a hundred hours* producing that hour’s worth of reading and went on to add another hundred or more in editing.
*Muffy College, Cambridge can be read in 5 hours. Each hour of reading took me 272 hours to write and edit or 1,360 hours in total – more than half in editing. In addition structural editors put in about 110-140 hours (between them) for a ~50-70,000 word book.
Some changes can be made with quick fixes, “The bus was caught in roadworks. I did mention that but I’ll stress it again so it’s clearer.”. Others mean changing the whole book into a different narrative style or building an entire new thread throughout the story.
You soon learn to give in and make changes – particularly when you see how much better the book is going to be.
Some notes of caution – you are the captain of the book: retain control.
You don’t need to make every change suggested: don’t make any unless you’re sure they are necessary. One editor may suggest things that conflict with others.
If two of them point out the same flaw, it’s probably time to make a change. If they all say different things, sift through and choose what you think are those changes that will work best for the intended audience.
If possible, get the editors together, in person, on the net or whatever and talk every last detail through. Let them argue among themselves – it really helps sort out the suggestions that are objective and those that are subjective. Structural editors are human! and can make mistakes in what is a complicated and taxing activity.
Sometimes they will miss something you thought obvious – maybe they were tired. But your readers will have had long days at the office, or whatever, too. If an editor missed something critical – your readers may: do something about it.
Last ... some editors will just not get your book or cope with your chosen narrative style for it. It happens. It is only an issue if they’re the sort of people you are aiming the book at – then that editor becomes your most precious resource.
Now your book is looking so much better. As a sculpture it is recognisable, not just as a human form, but a particular person, with all their gesture and form clearly visible.
But it’s not finished by a long way.
Copy editing:
Looks at sentence structure, clarity, minor ambiguities, repetition, choice of words etc. This is painstaking hard work and requires training, practice and a deep understanding of grammar and language. Don’t be surprised if your copy editor finds structural errors too.
Your copy editor will require a detailed style sheet clearly stating your choices – and will sometimes challenge them.
Proofreading
Really? after all that?
Yes, this is the final polish. After all the work above there will still be errors in spelling, spacing and punctuation etc. Please note that very few works, even from the best publishing houses, go out without some errors. Since the recession I’ve noticed more and more even in best-selling books. We’ve all seen them. Two spelling errors in one book is pretty good going, just a bit tragic if they’re both on the first page.
More often than not these are errors that a spell check won’t find. “She”, rather than “He”, “To”, rather than “Too”, for instance. Double spaces, wonky indents, “”, rather than “, can be found; there are loads of things that a proof reader will pick up on.
Proof reading requires the concentration. and pedantry of a computer programmer. (Proofread that last line – two errors.) Proofreaders will need your style sheet.
There are no shortcuts and it pays to go through the manuscript several times using your ‘search’ function. For instance, check every ‘it’s’ is correct and check for double spaces. There are many of these little tricks, but they don’t replace the real thing.
Read you manuscript at least once with non-printing characters visible.
People develop the most complicated systems to proofread. One particularly brilliant proofreader (now retired) read each sentence from beginning to end but read the book from back to front – upside down. This way she was never distracted by content.
In self-publishing there is another stage of editing. Preparing a book for electronic and print-on-demand requires formatting. Formatting can produce some ghastly errors. You’ll need to check everything (and get others to check too). That does mean reading the whole thing through again – thoroughly.
Note: style choice: British English, US punctuation, no proofreading, lol...
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I'll come out from hiding under my bed now...I'm so guilty of being a terrible editor and not seeing my work through my reader's eyes. Excellent points to ponder here. Thanks Gary.
That is actually encouraging to hear. Over the past two years, after writing a decade on my own, I've begun to accept writing may be done alone, but a writing career is built around relationships.
Although I only picked up one of the two deliberate errors, I'm delighted to have found an inadvertent one. :D Excellent article Gary.
We all want to drive the racecar, but few of us want to spend time tuning the engine, inspecting the tires, wiping the windshield, etc.