My name is Reece, and I'm an editor.
I was up until 2:00 last night editing an excerpt from my friend Angela's book, Uncommon. The worst part is I would have kept going if I hadn't looked at the clock. I thought it was around 11:00 or 11:30.
Editing is one of those activities that is always more enjoyable than I remember it being. I don't know why, but I love going through a manuscript and making comments and suggestions. At the same time, I'm always afraid the author will be offended by my comments; I try to make them as polite and tactful as possible, but there's no way to put my tone of voice into writing.
As I was working my way through Angela's manuscript, I had the most fun time pointing out things that she might not realize are unclear. I like doing that because it happens to me all the time and I'm always grateful to my friends who point it out and help me fix the problem. As writers, it's easy for us to remember that our readers don't know everything we know (probably only 30% of my ideas for a particular story actually make it into the book; everything else is just background information that helps me create the story).
I also like being able to make recommendations to help writers learn about their genre. One of the notes I made last night was to recommend a book to Angela because I felt like it might round out her understanding of certain aspects of her genre. She may well have read it already, but the suggestion can't hurt.
Anyway, I'm just rambling now. So, to sum up: I like editing and totally lose myself in it!
Are any of you editors at heart? What do you enjoy most about the writing process?
And most importantly, do you need any critiquing or editing done?
Bless you! I hate editing, but I love people who love it :)
ReplyDeleteYes! I'm definitely the same way. I love the editing process and helping fellow authors really make their work shine. I just finished editing a MS for a friend in the UK...while I was in stats class. :)
ReplyDeleteMy sister-in-law is like you- she loves the editing but has a harder time getting around to her writing. It's great for me though because she's always there to help!
ReplyDeleteIf you've got time, I'd love to have someone else look at my YA time-travel. (I've had three other betas read it for me). Let me know if you're interested! mmstanford@hotmail.com
I adore editing as well. Sometimes I worry that I offer too much feedback... but it's so much fun!
ReplyDeleteI adore editors - note I said editors not editing because then it would be I abhor editing - thus, I adore Reece.
ReplyDeleteI am so thrilled to have Reece comb through my excerpt. Point away Reece! If someone doesn't tell me, I probably won't know I've done something that needs to be improved upon. I'd much rather have that done during the editorial process than when the story is self-published or during the query process for an agent or publishing house. Nothing like having a fan tell you that "xyz" didn't make any sense.
I'm not good at editing. I'm horrible at grammer and occasionally spelling, (thank you spell check). But I'm very good at finding the pieces in the book that are confusing, or boring.
ReplyDeleteSo I'm not an editor at heart. I do need help with critquing all of the time and with editing. I wasn't born a writer, I became one. And I have no idea what I'm doing. So any help is nice :)
Wow! I've got to talk about editing more! I really appreciate all your comments. And thank you to those of you who have sent me chapters to edit! I'm super-excited!
ReplyDeleteYou really want to help me??? I would really love that. My book is still in progress though, and honestly it's a girly book. Fantasy, but girl protagonists. I dont know if you'd like that :) But I would LOVE if you had a little time to help me out.
ReplyDeleteI like editing...just not my own stuff. And that's great that you suggest other books to the other writer's. Research reading in the genre you write can be nothing but good :) You could take a look at my first chapter, but only if you want to. It's been looked over with many eyes and who knows if it's in the right place yet :)
ReplyDeleteHaha, that's great. I also like editing and critiquing! It's fun. Hopefully that doesn't just mean I like telling other people what to do. LOL
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