Threefer Thursday: Three Ways to Enjoy Your Editor

It was pointed out to me recently that for writers, the editing process is not always a delight. As an editor, I experience my own periods of dire frustration at the narrow-mindedness of my authors as regards my suggestions for their books. I know now that this is not always one-sided, but to my authors, I offer these few tips that might help in approaching editing with a more peaceful mentality.

1.                               1.Embrace the difference between yourself and your book

Writing is a personal process. Ernest Hemingway said that “there is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” But while being emotionally invested in your work is on one hand vital to creating something organic and authentic, being too emotionally intertwined with your story can be debilitating to the editing process. It is important to remember at all times that when your editor is making suggestions, or critiquing your work, they aren’t attacking you as a person. The editor is concerned with the words on the page, the story they tell, and how that story will affect readers.  You are not your book. Your book is a separate entity born from you and although you have the power to greatly affect what your book becomes, changing the contents of said book does not mean changing who you are, and needing to rewrite dialogue does not mean that you are a bad person. So do your best to look at your book from an objective point of view and separate the words on the page from the blood in your veins.

2.                          2.View your editor as you would any other expert rendering a service

Would you tell a plumber how to fix your toilet? A lawyer how to win your suit? A mechanic how to repair your car? No. The reason you hire an expert for his or her services is because you recognize that they understand more about this particular thing than you do. Editors are no different. We are formally trained for years, and often informally for our whole lives. We devote all our time to honing our grammar skills and keeping up with trends in publishing and what kind of fiction pleases teen readers. We know more irrelevant literary facts than could fill a book. And you have hired us on to repair your fledgling manuscript. Trust us. Let us do our job. Believe that we have the best interest of your book at heart, and use our advice and admonishments to help yourself grow into a better author. You might even find yourself editing for people who lack the experience you do. And when you do, you will want them to put their faith in your superior capabilities.

3.                                   3. Don’t stop aspiring to be a writer just because you finished your book

Being involved with literature is a lifestyle choice. It is not a one-time deal. Ask any novelista and she will tell you that books shape her whole life. Writing is a similar beast. It is a constantly evolving skill that requires constant sharpening. Style guides and grammar rules change, at the very least, yearly, and at the very most, daily.  Writing experiences trends just like any other cultural aspect (see: vampire craze). This requires constant vigilance. Constant practice. And constantly having an open mind to what kind of writing you are doing, what you could be doing, and what you want to be doing. Sure, you may have just knocked out a literary masterpiece. But that is no reason that you should stop trying to improve, or stop writing altogether. This is what the editing process is for: growth, expansion, and development. In improving the novel you just finished, you might realize that you want to try your hand at short stories. This is how a writer becomes an author with a multi-book career.

At the end of the day, the biggest question you have to ask yourself is, do you want to be an author, or do you want to be a person who wrote a book? Authors have obligations and responsibilities. They are as much salesmen as writers. They have to conceive of a product (the book) that is marketable to as wide an audience as possible. Then they have to approach that audience. Blogging, web videos, social media, book tours, readings, signings, and if you are lucky, selling your story to screenwriters akin to butchers. This all begins with the editing process. If a writer wants to become an author, they have to take that manuscript that they wrenched from inside and shine it up for the public. This is what the editing process is for. So use your editor, respect your editor, and you will have a publishing experience that is satisfying, educational, and mutually enjoyable.