All Comments on 'How To Be A Good Editor'

a GOOD editor won't need to read this:)

(But thanks for taking the time to write some handy tips for any 'wannabees' out there;))

I have had authors tell me they have an editor AND a 'reader'.

Apparently they use the editor for spelling & grammar, and the 'reader' for checking continuity and plot etc.

I wonder???

BUT, plenty who THINK they are good editors DO need it.

Many writers I email and suggest they need an editor assure me they already do have one..

It seems many think running a 'spell check' is being an editor.

The one very important thing Lady C left off her list is that a good editor will move on from an author who does not allow all the other things on her list.

It is too soul destroying to keep trying to advise someone who pays little or no attention to your coaching.

Those who want only spelling and grammar checks could do worse than use MSWord's convoluted idea of correct grammar and not waste a real editor's time.

But why is my second comment - "Also" below the first one "NB is correct"? They were about ten minutes apart...

There is one essential between the two articles that writers absolutely need to understand: There is a very good chance you did not write what you thought you wrote!

You know what you intended to write. You know more about the characters than you will put in the story because if you didn't, you couldn't get all their behavior right. Since you completely understand your story, when you read it, you will see everything you intended. The reader is not armed with what is in your mind. If your editor or reader says, "The character wouldn't act this way," and you can't demonstrate he absolutely would based on only what is in the story, your editor is right. If (s)he challenges your logic and you can't prove it by what is in the story, your editor is right.

The writer is in the uniquely worst position to know if he has gotten across what he intended. You already know what you intended. How can you possibly put yourself in a position of not know that in order to determine if you succeeded in getting it across.

Sometimes your editor just might not get it. Ask a few other people to read it and give you feedback. If 3 or 4 tell you they got what you were selling, the editor might not be in synch on this story. If a second person tells you you didn't do it (gee, is some editor going to tell me about you you?), then you didn't do it beyond a reasonable doubt.

I guess listening to your editor was in the articles somewhere but I thought I would specify you must, in your own best interest.

Deer LadieC,

What do u no abowt this? You knot a gud editor at all! Alla tie I send u ting alla time and u send back, alla time! hoo u thnk u are! Miss “I no everything abowt riteing?” Just bcaws you speek Englisch don’t make u missus gawddamn Dickuns!! Speeking Francjh do’t give you the power of the grate franch riter, was his name, yes, Toldstory! I bet you dint no that Les Miserables wuz about lezbefirends, did ja? Ha I tooght not!

I hav sent u what? Six or 7 times I cent mms to u and alla time you send them back wif all this crap about this und that. My story is full of all this red and green stuff! sumtimes, u put in these “comment “ things and I can’t get rid to them! You say “I don’t think Peter would do this, do you?” Well, missy, if I say peter hit his pecker with a bazeball bat u beter beleev he hit his pecker with a bazeboll bat!

Like most u editors u too hung up of me riting compeat sentences and plot to unnerstand the fine intricut nooance witch under pins all my riting!

I don’t think u know wat you are talking abowt! I go find a editer who can apere..appreeesheee…..acreciatee……like my riting! :-P

I want to be a Hollywood writer someday ... I've tried several times with "spec" (unsolicited) scripts. It is ALWAYS good to have someone look over your work. Problems arise when people don't have the time to talk about what you have written, or say things which aren't really useful.

All sutdios and most agents hire professional readers, generally paying them on a per-script basis, to look over the unsolicited material and see if it fits basic writing guidelines and the guidelines for the genre. Sometimes the readers will return the script with comments, sometimes not. I've had both things happen. I've also taken writing classes and seen the teachers' prejudices come up in certain situations -- they intensely dislike a certain style of writing, or intensely prefer another style. Not every teacher is a failed author, but some, unfortunately, are. Others are fine authors who don't have a good outlet (most college writing professors would fit here -- they need to eat). The ones with prejudices are the worst to deal with, because they may not be able to bend their rules to critique a story out of their preferred genres. (LadyCibelle, you know what I mean.)

I got a big laugh out of Chagrined's self-parody. I don't know how many writers are THAT bad at punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, etc. I have had continual battles over grammar and spelling with my MS Word program because I know a few things it doesn't, or have structured my sentences deliberately and don't fit in its cookie cutter. At one point, LadyCibelle called me on something, I wrote her back explaining why I had used it, she accepted the explanation, the item stayed in.

No writer or editor should have to crawl around eating dirt, although most Hollywood writers wind up doing it because of pressure from executives and stars and directors (so the good ones become executives as fast as they can). I'd be scared to death to be a staff writer on a TV show (at least when it wasn't payday), but I am "apprenticing" to patricia51 because I'm trying to learn the erotic genre, and I'm working with LadyCibelle because she dared me to. You want to learn, you work with the best. Maybe someday someone will work with me.

who actually DO take note of suggestions &/or correct inconsistencies in their stories.

Such authors are a pleasure to work with - actually they make the process a delight and not at all worklike.

ALL authors, whoever your editor is, should take note of rp's comments.

Even without an editor, you must believe the verdict of your readers. If they disliked a hero you thought you painted as a saint, the he ain't a saint!

You didn't do a good enough job describing him.

Beware of the trap rpsuch pointed out - you may be so far inside your characters' heads that you know exactly their motives and background, but it's not worth a fig if you haven't successfully conveyed all that to the reader.

There is an old saying:

"A lawyer representing himself has a fool for a lawyer and a fool for a client"

An author editing his own work is is in the same boat!

That is why many so called stories are merely a jumble of words.

Oh for the old "Whiteshadow" system where nothing was posted until it was passed by one of the editors.At least ALL stories were readable both with basic continuity and spelling/grammar.

is apparent from the lovely responses evoked!

I usually just nail authors to a cross and make them listen to Wayne Newton records when they miss up, but your methods will work well also.

Seriously, good ideas that are well presented, Lady C.

If we were all robots, editing (and writing for that matter) would be a painless process. We would be able to impart our experience without fear of hurting anyone's feelings.

But if we were robots, we wouldn't be able to wrtie good porn, nor would we care to read it. A good writing/editing experience feels like giving birth when the story finally shows up on the "New Stories" page and gets that "H" tag before it falls off.

I feel you highlight qualities a good editor has but I feel, it would have been more interesting if you talked about the qualities in more detail.

I know this was written in 2005, but I just found it today. It’s worth reading if for no other reason than to read ‘chargrined’s comment. I laughed until I cried.

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