EDITS, EDITORS, EDITING—The Secret Weapon of Every Successful Writer

You will also learn how to polish your strengths and turn interesting narrative into compelling storytelling, good dialogue to great, plot-twists-that-fall-flat into a breath-taking, never-saw-it-coming shocks.

Editing is expensive and choosing an editor is like picking a great date for Saturday night—without help from OkCupid or eharmony. Due to contractions in TradPublishing, there are many knowledgeable and experienced freelance editors offering their services. Most offer a sample edit of ten pages or so, a useful try-before-you-buy option.

Whether you plan to self-publish, want to work with a small press or are looking for an agent and a TradPub deal, hiring an editor to take a cool, calm look at your book is essential because—as if you didn’t already know—the days of Maxwell Perkins are long gone.

Define how much editing you need: 

Valerie Comer wrote a succinct analysis of the differences between a rewrite, revision and editing that will help clarify your thinking.

Where to start looking for an editor: 

Elisabeth Kauffman lists professional associations and sources and dispenses solid advice about what questions to ask as you search for your perfect editor.

Network with other writers in your genre: 

They will be able to suggest editors who know what they’re doing and warn you away from those who don’t. Writers’ Cafe has yellow-page lists of editors and threads about editors and editing pop up often.

Understand the different kinds of editing:

Learn the difference between developmental (or content) editing and copyediting.

Joanna Penn describes the functions of different kinds of editors and offers valuable guidance about how to find the right editor.

Developmental: A developmental/content editor’s contributions involve a broad overview of the manuscript, its structure, scene and chapter placement or rearrangement, even the basics of plot and character. A developmental/content editor (sometimes called a book doctor) can answer an SOS when a manuscript is on life support and needs rescue.

Victoria Mixon delves further into the various aspects of editing and describes how the editing process works between writer and editor. She also addresses the circumstances that involve trimming, re-writing, rearranging, and even the writing of new material.

Editor Belinda Pollard warns writers not to depend on editorial labels but to find out exactly what to expect from different kinds of editors no matter what they’re called. She also reminds us that “the right feedback at the right time is the secret weapon of every successful author.” I couldn’t agree more!

Copyediting: Copyediting takes place at a later stage when all the nuts and bolts of a story are in place. The copyeditor is concerned with clarity, clarity, cohesion, consistency, and correctness (the "4 Cs”) according to Amy Einsohn's The Copyeditor's Handbook.

Proofreading: Proofing is yet another stage in the editorial process and comes last of all, just before you send your book out into the world. The good proofreader is über detail-oriented, on the look out for typos, typographical glitches and lapses in spelling and punctuation.

The Writers Center posted a good article that covers the art and craft of proofreading.

The Chicago Manual of Style offers a Rosetta Stone to proofreader’s marks and squiggles.


Not all editors are the same. Some edit with a light hand, preferring to let the writer’s own voice come through. Other editors take a firmer approach, making an effort to conform your manuscript to current industry standards. Decide which approach you prefer and which one will work best for you and your book.

Choose an editor who’s an expert in your genre. S/he will be knowledgable about current trends, best practices and no-nos. A sci-fi specialist will not be up to date on the latest in romance. And vice versa.

Your editor is your partner and guide—not your overlord. Feel free to disagree with suggestions but be sure you have a good reason for your choices. Sometimes a brief discussion will lead to a third solution that’s even better.

Even billionaires need editors. Warren Buffett’s long-time editor at Fortune, Carol Loomis, spills the beans.

Basics to take care of before you send off your manuscript. 

Doing some advance clean-up will save you and your editor time and money:

• Create a style sheet as you write. It’s not hard and it is invaluable for you and for your editor. I’ve written before about the importance of style sheets.
• Perform a basic spell check and watch out for homonyms and homophones—words that sound alike but have different meanings. They will pass a spell check but you must actually read the sentence in context to ensure the word you used is the word you mean. Examples: through/threw; there/their/they’re, here/hear, by/bye/buy, to/two/too.
• Run a grammar program. Most word processors have one and will root out common errors that guarantee rejection and/or bad reviews.
• Review your dialogue tags. They can often be pruned or even deleted.
• The cliché finder will hunt down, uh, clichés.
• The Passivator will highlight passive verbs and adverbs.

India Drummond takes on editors (the cyber kind) in this review of White Smoke, Style Writers, Serenity Software, and Autocrit.

I don’t recommend self-editing for beginning writers who will probably need help with at least some or possibly all of the following: pacing, character, structure and/or story arc.

With more experience, though, plus a crit group or beta readers, you will be able to read your manuscript with a more detached and professional eye. If you’re not sure whether or not you need an editor, Derek Murphy pinpoints some important issues and suggests affordable alternatives.

If you want to go ahead on your own, be on the lookout for:

• Flabby language and trite dialogue.
• A saggy middle.
• A blah (or confused) ending.
• Info dumps.
• Boring backstory.
• Good guys who are too good and bad guys who are too bad. (Yes, it’s possible.) Characters require shades of grey to be believable.
• Too many sub-plots? The ones that go nowhere, wander off and disappear or result in a dead end? Decide if they should be combined and streamlined or even done away with.
• Too many characters? Do they get in each other’s way? Do they perform the same function in your book? Cut and combine is the answer.

Deborah Rains Dixon addresses story structure, why it’s crucial and includes different examples of structure.

In Self-Editing For Fiction Writers, two professional editors cover such aspects of fiction as dialogue, exposition, point of view and interior monologue.

If you think all this sounds too picky and painful not to mention too time-consuming and expensive to bother with, think again. As someone who served time in the slush pile, I guarantee: an unedited manuscript is the mark of the amateur, the bane of the pro, the kiss of death, a sure-fire route to nowheresville.

It’s your book. You decide.

What about you, Scriveners? Do you hire your own editor? How did you find your editor? Do you use the cyber-kind? Do you have any other tips for self-editing? What are your biggest problems that you need to address when you edit? 

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