The Truth about Editing
I’m often asked - don’t you get sick of editing? Or, how can you still be editing when you’ve already finished writing the story? Or, isn’t it time to stop fussing and put the pen down? Perhaps it’s because editing is perceived as correcting punctuation. Sure, this is integral to the editing process — potentially it's the most straight forward part for those who specialise in such details, people like the guys in the cartoon, people to whom I’m eternally grateful — confession time, I am NOT one of those people!
But no, editing is so much more than this. For me, over the past five years, editing has been about making improvements to the story, adding descriptive or historical detail, choosing a word that resonates best to paint the picture I’m trying to convey. While working on the second and third drafts of my novel I reaped the rewards as my characters became fleshed out — they were now sitting beside me, allowing me to get to know them better: what they might be thinking or feeling, how they might react to a particular situation — telling details that added colour, shape and texture to the bare bones of the story.
The role of the professional editor is different again but equally essential. Again, punctuation is only a part of the process. The professional editor takes a bird’s eye view seeing your mistakes clearly, your quirky little habits, the times you have overwritten — they don’t hesitate to tell you when ‘less’ is more — they identify missed opportunities where detail should have been included but was missed. What’s more, they double check your facts, enlighten you if you are using language that wasn’t common vernacular for the time or if you've dressed your characters in clothes that are all wrong, etc, etc.
A good editor is invaluable and the relationship becomes one of trust, they fix your mistakes and improve your work. I’ve been so lucky to work with three fantastic editors: Michelle Vollemaere and Tom Moody prior to handing in for my Masters; and Stephen Stratford on this final draft. Each one of these editors has provided me with essential tools and insight to take the project forward. And so, to reinforce where we started. Punctuation is the lipstick, the final lick of colour, whereas the secret to good editing lies in the foundation layers....
