Comments on: The Editing Process: What do editors do anyway? A Guest Article

By: annew

annew — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:12:35 +0000

Courtney, I can’t answer that… I’ve done it both ways… it sort of depends on the manuscript. I suspect there’s no ‘typical’ process.

By: Courtney

Courtney — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 06:03:54 +0000

What is your typical process in editing a fiction manuscript? Do you read all the way through the story first, to see how it flows and learn all the ins and outs of the plot, or do you line-edit and make suggestions first? I’m having my novel edited now, and there are parts of the story where the reader is supposed to be curious, as the information about the protagonist comes later. It’s the reverse of dramatic irony. What is typical for an editor to do?

By: annew

annew — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 16:24:57 +0000

AM, sorry you had a bad experience as an intern.

By: AM

AM — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 15:45:59 +0000

I was recently let go from a writing internship this fall – I was one month into it to say the least – after my editor stated that I made too many little mistakes in my articles. I owned up to those mistakes, but at the same time my editor never once told me about them or even told me to correct them in anyway. Now, isn’t that an editor’s job? To make sure that everything that gets put out is 100% correct? Like you stated, it’s a partnership between a writer and an editor, and I can honestly say we didn’t have one. Now, I’m sitting here without a learning experience because he was worried about a credibility issue ruining their business.

By: admin

admin — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 22:52:07 +0000

One of the very first pieces I sold was, imo, ruined by an editor… that’s almost the only time that’s happened to me. Several have made me look much better than I was/am.

By: Kate

Kate — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 04:15:53 +0000

I know a few editors you should be teaching. Don't get we wrong I have had the chance to work with a lot of great editors who have made me a better writer, but I have also encountered a few power trippers to. Oddly enough, it always seems to be the ones with the least power (a junior editor or a content editor instead of a managing editor) who have the biggest attitude towards writers. Anyone else notice that? Kate’s last blog post..The Nature of Work and The Idea of Protection

By: Lou Paun

Lou Paun — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:30:15 +0000

I really appreciate the way you express the writer-editor partnership. When that partnership works, it really does result in a better book. I’ve had editors who made wonderful suggestions. I’ve had editors who made silly suggestions — and debating those suggestions led to solutions that neither of us would have discovered alone. A really good editorial partnership is almost magical.

Of course, I’ve also had editors who insisted on stupid changes. When the critics spoke harshly about those passages, my name was in the review, not the editor’s. Maddening! I get furious when a book is not as good as I can make it.

Editors, like writers, have different levels of competence. I think you have to go into the partnership hoping for the best — because that increases the chance to make the best possible book.

By: admin

admin — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:14:28 +0000

Yep, more or less Jamwes, editors are like people, well they are people, and you’ll get a variation between them but the goals are roughly the same. Glad you liked the aritlce

By: Jamwes

Jamwes — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:44:57 +0000

Very good information. Now I know what to expect from an editor when I get to that stage in my novel. Jamwes’s last blog post..Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie