Editing Before Your Editor Edits Your Edits

I’ve said this before: as a writer and an editor, it takes a massive amount of self-control to prevent myself from editing my work as I write it, even if I know it sucks as it drains from my fingertips into the keyboard. Drafts are supposed to suck; their function is to get the raw materials out of your head so you can mold them on the paper or screen before you. 

And, oh, my raw materials can be rather pathetic at the start. Epically pathetic, one might say, given my genre of choice.

But what my editing chops provide me is the ability to clean up my work (to a point) before I hand it off to an objective set of eyes that hasn’t been staring at my words for months on end.

While HB Ink, LLC’s process encompasses a standard two rounds of editing before formatting for print, sometimes pieces benefit from an extra full or partial edit prior to making the manuscript look pretty on the page.

This is not a fault or a negative.

It’s another step toward the realization of the author’s vision. Authors hire editors to make their stories gleam. I would rather have an editor tell me it needs more work before I go to print than publish an unpolished piece that needs revamping in a later edition.

At least at the beginning.

I edit the realm out of my books before I hand them off to my editor, and while it makes her life easier, it also eases mine. By the time she gets them, my works are less prone to needing extra edits (though not impervious) because I analyze every word several times over before it leaves my hands for an objective scan.

I can hear some of you asking why I bother. “You’re paying the editor. Let her do the dirty work. It’s her job. Use that time, instead, to write the next book.”

Hmmm, a compelling counterpoint.

No.

Here’s why.

Certainly, the Virgo perfectionist in me instantly responds to that suggestion with dry heaves, but while she breathes into a paper bag on the couch, let me give more rational reasons for my choice to edit ad nauseum (see what I did there?).

Besides assuring continuity and adherence to future plotlines, the rest goes back to vision. I have a certain vision for my tale that no one else can have because they’re not in my brain (and for escaping that fate: you’re welcome). 

I want my book to read a certain way. 

I want a specific cadence. 

I select words with pedantic discernment that, in my case, stems from hours and hours of Masters-level literary analysis. (Sometimes I want that subtle dual-meaning to stroke your subconscious along the way, even if you don’t realize it on the first read, okay? It makes me happy to know it’s there for you to find… even if you don’t.)

Secondarily, polishing is part of my process. Choosing the words that fit my vision sometimes reveals tiny finesses within the tale that I didn’t realize were important. I have seen the alteration of one word redefine an entire scene within my story (which, yes, required a complete rewriting overhaul, but I was in the editing phase at that point, so it was a legitimate action).

Words are extraordinarily powerful and possess lives of their own. We are privileged to use them, and we must wield their power with meticulous care.

But we don’t need years of collegiate study to do so (I just happen to have that in my arsenal). So, let me tell you what I do (and you can, too) to help my words do what I want them to. Even if you’re not as picky as I am (and few are!), this might spare you an additional round of editing.

The basics are requisite to storytelling:

1. Allow yourself to write a terrible draft. You WILL fix it later. You promise.

2. Edit the draft. See? You didn’t even have to wait that long.

3. Edit it again, really, as many times as you want. When this process starts to feel smooth, you can move on to step four.

The finesses are requisite to better storytelling:

4. Perform a ReadAloud Edit. Word has a function called ReadAloud that uses an AI voice to read your work to you (other similar programs exist). I like to do this with a grammar bot running to kill two Narxon with one jet of dragon fire, but you can split the two into separate steps if the pair is overwhelming in tandem. (I use the ProWritingAid grammar bot add-in for Word. Some choose Grammarly. You do you.)

• Let the computer read your work to you while your eyes read along. You will hear the obvious mistakes and see the less-obvious ones.
• Fix the things the grammar bot tells you to fix (unless the bot is wrong or your stylistic choices require some grammatic fudgery).
• ReadAloud your corrections, whether you chose to make them or the bot suggested them. They may need further adjusting.
• Let the computer read your work to you until everything sounds right. Obviously, the bot’s inflection (and sometimes pronunciation) may not be perfect, but if you’re reading along with your eyes, you’ll know if you nailed it, even when the computer reader is a bit glitchy. (The newer voices have come a long way, thankfully.)

5. Perform a Reading Edit. Now you become the reader bot. Read your story aloud to yourself (or to a friend, spouse, or pet, if desired).

• Barring any unforeseen emergencies or pee breaks, read each chapter from start to finish without walking away in the middle. This uninterrupted read provides the added benefit of checking for continuity and unintentional repetition within the chapter.
• This is also helpful if you plan to do an audiobook version (especially if you plan to read it yourself) because you can catch any weirdness or spots that may be tricky to say before you record.

6. Perform a Paper Edit. (Note: If you’re not a computer person, you may have already completed this step.) Oh, yeah. Old school. Why bother? Seeing your story in a different medium (on paper vs. screen) changes your impression of it; it’s like starting from a clean(er) slate.

• If you’ve written the entire thing on a computer, burn through a ream of paper and print the whole thing. Then sit with your favorite pen (I use purple ink) and mark it up. (I’m aware of the ecological consequences here; if you wait to do this step closer to the end, you won’t have to do it twice, and printing double-sided or using recycled paper helps reduce waste, too. Please remember to recycle your marked-up manuscript when finished.)
• You can read it out loud a second time (if desired) or combine this step with your Reading Edit from step five.
• Transfer your edits to the manuscript, check with that grammar bot again, ReadAloud/read out loud anything that needed serious overhauling, and voila. You’ve edited your book at least half a dozen times.

I would posit that an author doesn’t need to be a professional editor (nor spend an inordinate amount of money) to perform these edits. But there’s a caveat.

When you’re done, hire an editor.

I’m not saying this because I’m an editor-for-hire.

I used an editor before I became one professionally and will continue to do so as long as I publish novels.

But hear me out: after you’ve edited your work six or more times, your eyes cross, you dream in chapters, and you confer with your characters while making dinner or plucking your eyebrows. It’s a bit… [insert eye twitch here] enthralling.

And you can’t be objective when you’re held in your story’s thrall.

That’s when you need someone whose soul is not tangled in the tale to find its foibles.

Even after all these editing steps, you. will. miss. things.

Guaranteed.

But if you put in all that effort to get your story as close to your version of perfect as you can, why in the realm would you stop short and let those hairy little typos and oopsies taint your immortalized hard work?

I get it.

But let me posit this: you will never make up the cost of an editor if your book is frustrating, error-riddled, or unreadable. Because it won’t sell.

You’ve invested the time. The energy. The love. 

If you won’t invest the money in your soul’s story—in yourself—what will you invest in?

Unless you’re publishing not with the intent to share but only so you can hold your book in your hand and say you’ve done it, please…

edit the realm out of it and then hire an editor.

-HA

If I can be of service, check out HB Ink, LLC’s professional editing process at www.hbinkllc.com.