As writers, we all know the value of having an editor, and it becomes especially important when working on releasing your book through self-pub means. Today, I'm happy to have Sean Wallace stop by to talk about why it is so important to have an editor.
The Value of an Editor
So, I get to the point in my novel Dust
and Sand where I have read each chapter ten times, where I have read the
whole thing through another two or three, and I'm sure I've ironed out every
possible mistake. There can't be any more in there! I've picked out typos,
incorrect word usage, missing words, repeated words, everything. The human
genome has not been examined as closely as this novel. It's ready. People can
read it.
However, I know from experience that this
feeling is a peculiar version of false hope. When I released my free eBook Deep
Echoes, I felt exactly the same way. And I was a fool to do so: one of my first
readers contacted me to say I'd swapped the two main characters' names half a
dozen times. Then, when I re-read Deep Echoes after this, I found a bunch more
mistakes, a horribly galling and awful sensation.
Having learned my lesson, I decided to hire
an editor for Dust and Sand. I sent it off and twiddled my thumbs (i.e. worked
like crazy on other projects). A couple of months passed. Then my editor
replied, her efforts sitting in an email, a carefully-combed through Word
document.
I opened it up, expecting a few minor plot
points but nothing major. My main characters weren't similar enough that I'd
repeat the naming mistake again! I read through it. There, on the second page,
my editor pointed out that Dust somehow knows a character has scars without
ever looking at them.
Somehow, I'd missed that in every single
reading. Which just goes to show that, no matter how many times you've read a
piece, there will always be mistakes in your writing, things which your mind
glosses over without consideration: of course Dust knows that character is
scarred, my foolish brain went, because I know that character is
scarred.
The edit was full of tips like that, such
as my anachronistic usage of some words and an almost-frustrated lecture on how
little I know about horses (clue: I know sod all about horses). My editor also
considered the whole of the plot, made some interesting suggestions, many of
which I took. They were invaluable, and I am so grateful that they helped make
Dust and Sand as brilliant as I think it is now (and, hopefully, the agents
reading the manuscript will feel the same way!).
There are some mistakes and problems which
an author cannot see for themselves: in writing, you cocoon yourself in you
world, in your characters. Whilst that helps creation, it hinders objective
analysis. Friends and family can only do so much for you as well: a brilliant
beta reader can give you broad themes, maybe delve into the particulars of a
piece if they are dedicated, but they will not put in the work to find out
whether 'egghead' was a word in the 19th Century (hint: it wasn't).
They will not explain parts of geography for you, which they themselves have
learned to be sure in the point they're making.
An editor is an expense, and one I
understand many can't afford. I would implore you, though, to seriously
consider whether you could tighten your belt for a few months and splash out on
one. Because a good editor, a dedicated soul who loves stories and will put
their heart into helping you make yours shine, is worth eating Ramen noodles
and tins of sweetcorn for a few months.
Sean is a writer, a gamer, a project manager and also a bit of a
self-deprecating self-aggrandizer. In his spare time, he just about
manages to sleep.
To connect with Sean, check out his website and follow him on Twitter:
Website: www.darkmess.com
Twitter: @SeanPWallace
