Editing Etiquette

Editing has many levels and layers. We, as editors, have to peel away the layers and dig down into the nitty gritty. I was sent a very interesting article recently that highlights the importance of hiring a freelance editor to help shape your story. The very basics of it were just as I have previously posted: It may be tough to hear some of the issues your story has and some of the criticism and evaluation that your editor throws your way. It's an emotional journey and takes a lot of your time, energy, tears and heart. But... the initial advice and truths are far more pain-free and easier to swallow coming from your trusted editor, who has put their own time and energy into your work, than to be torn apart out on the internet by complete strangers. We have your best interests in mind because when you fail, we fail. When you succeed, we succeed too.

I'm just going to go over some of the types of editing out there and if you're a writer (or contemplating writing), you can get an idea of what some of these layers are.

One type, commonly known as "copyediting", is the most basic type of editing. It's basically proofreading your work, correcting spelling, grammar, sentence flow/structure, etc. If you're confident in your story, or have had trusted friends/family read over your work to make sure that the story is consistent and the overall theme works well, you may only want to hire someone to copyedit. Keep in mind, they will not be specifically looking for story structure and other issues with the format.

Another style is developmental editing. Generally, I have found that this and the following type of editing are what I have been doing. This addresses the story as a whole, providing advice on story flow, pointing out inconsistencies (e.g.; a man is bald in one scene and has long flowing locks in the next), verifies that the voice of the narration is consistent throughout the story, and pointing out strengths and weaknesses. It can also include being quite honest about the pace of the story, especially if there are "boring" sections that are hard to get through.

And the last one I will go over and the one I use the most is called line editing. This sheds light on specific lines of dialogue or scenarios that really don't fit, don't make sense, or need to be revised to help move the story forward in a more fluent manner.


So as you can see, there are many facets to editing a work, and oftentimes this is the reason it takes 2-3 readings in order to thoroughly and most effectively edit a piece. As I have said before, when you've written the work, you've been through it so many times that some of these hiccups become invisible to your eye. (I know, I've been there!)This is why it's important and completely worth the money it takes to have an editor review something you fully intend on publishing.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

***I would like to give credit for the general idea of this blog entry to Brian Klems from writersdigest.com and also some help with verifying information to the Editorial Freelancers Association website. (And my friend Meredith for sending me the link!)