Miscellaneous Ramblings Today!

Hello my blog buddies!

So today I want to talk a little more about editing. After re-reading last week's editing day, going through yesterday's entry, and in light of some recent projects I've been working on, I want to dig deep into the relationship an editor has with their author.

Everything up to this point has been a learning process. Think about that. Any person, any age, any sort of background can say this sentence, and it's true. I've tweaked things along the way, and I may be better than I was when I started, but I'm still always learning-not just in editing, but all of life in general.

Up until a few weeks ago, I only had experience working with one writer. All I knew was the relationship I had with this person. To be perfectly honest, I've heard nightmare stories, and I have been spoiled and blessed with the writers I've been able to work with. Now that I've been working with more people, different styles, different personalities, different techniques, it's been very cool to watch this editor/author relationship pan out differently for each person. I feel like if it's a good fit, you can really connect with your author in a way that nobody else can. I think an editor also takes on a little bit of a therapeutic friendship, a person an author can go to who they know can understand what they're going through in a way that nobody else really can. If you've been reading my blog, you know I try very hard to put myself in their shoes, to be sympathetic with their struggles and take joy in their triumphs, and with that comes a very close friendship that is like nothing else.

So, in editing my authors' works and with the conversations we have through the course of editing, I imagine them sitting at home, biting their nails and anxiously awaiting my opinions, corrections, criticism and evaluations. What I don't think you (the authors) understand is, when I send that edited copy back to you, I'm pretty equally anxious to hear how you take it all. If you have ever or will ever work with me, there's some things you should know:
1) Sometimes editing happens late at night because it's the only time I have that's quiet and uninterrupted.
2) Sometimes it's when I'm wide awake during the day while Will is at school.
3) Always, it is in this very focused, very intense place of scrutiny (in a positive way!) where I can sometimes write very direct/short or very silly sounding comments.

Sometimes I get goofy, especially with the late night edits and the comments can get quite hilarious. Occasionally I will go back through and make them a little more professional, but there are some I leave just for sheer entertainment. I take my editing very seriously, but once in a while it's okay to let loose. When it comes down to it, this is something we love doing: writing and editing. So if we can't have fun as a team at least some of the time, we've kind of lost the reason why we're doing this in the first place.

On the other hand, my comments can sometimes seem a little harsh (to me). I've looked back and, with some positive feedback from my authors, I've realized that they're not harsh. They. Are. Honest. I sometimes have to remind myself that I'm here to make the story the best draft it can be, not to spare feelings or coddle the author. If things are hard to understand, don't make sense, don't fit in the story or just plain suck; it's my duty to let you know! (FYI: Nobody's work has "Just plain sucked" up to this point, just want to make that clear!) Anyways, I am the one that you want to hear this from, not from Judgy Joe Reader who gives you 1 star and a load of crap on your Amazon reviews for the world to see.

I suppose that the moral of today's blog is this: editors have insecurities too. When you are reviewed online, we are too. There is a lot of pressure to make you look good, and I don't mean that in a bad way, I mean that this is our job as your editor, and we can be just as nerve-wracked as you are! So I hope I've been able to give you a little glimpse into an editor's mindset, and not that we're looking for pity or sympathy or anything, just know you're not in it alone, and your editor is your teammate. If you don't feel that way about your editor, find a new one. Even if it's me you're not meshing with. You have to be on the same side and understand each other, that's the only way your story is going to be the very best it can be.

Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow because there is a brand new author putting himself out into the world for the first time, and these are the people we want to support!