HOW MY DESK GOT A DENT IN IT – or The Importance of Editing

by Dani Harper, www.daniharper.com

Writing is one thing. Editing is another thing.

Most of my career was spent in communications, including radio, newspaper and magazines. After that I did something totally crazy and began writing fiction. In August, I finished my seventh novel, and started plotting number eight. If it sounds like I might have learned a thing or two about writing, I have.

I’ve learned the hard way that A GOOD WRITER DOESN’T TRY TO DO IT ALONE!

Sure, I’m the person creating worlds on my laptop. But let me tell you, after I’ve stared at all that text on the screen for hours or days or weeks, my perspective isn’t worth spit. That’s why – both during and after the construction of a story – I can’t express enough THANKS to the people who fill the following roles in my writing life:

1. BETA READERS
2. STORY/CONCEPT EDITORS
3. COPY EDITORS

These roles tend to overlap a lot – it’s tough to draw a definite line between them, or even title them properly, and some people wear more than one hat. Whatever you call them, the wonderful folks who do these jobs are dedicated to saving me from total embarrassment… er, I mean making sure that YOU have a pleasant reading experience. Actually, it’s the same thing.

THIS IS WHY –

An error in your novel can make you look unprofessional, sure, but that’s not the worst of it. A MISTAKE TAKES THE READER OUT OF THE STORY!  Whether your novel is like a pleasant Sunday drive or a white-knuckle roller coaster, you want the reader happily involved right to the very end. Something as pedestrian as a spelling mistake – or heaven help you, a hole in the plot – are like scattering nails on the pavement, or cutting the power to the amusement park. It interrupts the experience. Many promising stories are never finished or, if they are, they’re not fully appreciated, because the ride wasn’t smooth.

BETA READERS –

My first line of defense is my test audience, the Betas, and they have the unenviable job of reading the story IN PIECES. Here, please read this scene…. or this chapter…. or this segment of the book which I’ve now rewritten four times…. Their feedback is absolutely vital, and most it has to do with how they feel. Do you LIKE the characters? Is the world believable? Would someone really say this, or do that? Are there any bumps that “take you out of the story”? Is the ending satisfying?

STORY/CONCEPT EDITORS –

The story editor is like an engineer inspecting the STRUCTURE of the story, however. Does the anatomy of the novel hold up throughout? Is the pacing consistent? Is there a soggy middle? IS THERE A PLOT HOLE? Does the ending deliver what the beginning promised? Are the characters developed enough? Did the story follow the rules of the world the author built, was some detail forgotten, or did something go off the rails entirely (and if so, where?).

COPY EDITORS –

Grammar, punctuation, and spelling have to be inspected by a human eye. (Yup, your computer’s Spell Check not only doesn’t catch everything, sometimes it makes it WORSE – and it sure as heck can’t spell the Welsh and Fae languages in my stories.)

Like most writers, I have my personal punctuation demons too. I’m totally reliant on my copy editor to catch the incorrect usages of dashes and commas.

TO ERR IS HUMAN

Just because you’re striving for perfection doesn’t mean you’ll reach it, because you’re human, and your team is human. Despite the best efforts of everyone involved, it’s not only possible but likely that there’s still a mistake or two lurking in your story. Hopefully, it’s just a comma or a typo, but sometimes it’s bigger than that. After your novel comes out, you just might bang your head on the desk because something got overlooked.

Yup, my own desk has a large forehead-shaped dent in it. I wrote a story where no less than SIX people read the completed manuscript, and not a single person caught a major plot hole before it went to press.

To say that I was utterly mortified by that experience would be an understatement. I even wanted to quit writing for the first few days…. However, a good friend pointed out that such things have happened to the Big Dogs too, those writers whom I look up to and admire. If they could live through it, then so could I.

But here’s what I learned from that experience – NOT ALL EDITORS ARE CREATED EQUAL, and sometimes you haven’t got the right combination of skills on your team. I certainly had enough bodies per se – but I didn’t have a story/concept editor at that time. That’s where I made my mistake, and believe me, I’ve fixed that since.

Just because someone has hung out a shingle, doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a good editor – or a good editor for YOU. Not even if they used to work for a publisher (or still do). There are some fabulously gifted editors out there too, who have never been “trained”, but have an eye for story like Tony Stark has an eye for innovation. You might have to do some asking around, some testing and trying, before you find the right story editor for your work. This goes for Betas too. The trial and error can be painful, but this is like assembling an Avengers team – it’s gotta be the right combination of talents to be effective.

CONTEST –

Now that I’ve lectured you to death, here’s something FUN. I’m giving away a $20 Amazon gift card. (Open to US/Canada) To enter, just leave a comment, and I’ll choose a winner at random from the commenters on September 25^th. (PS – Be sure to include an email address where I can reach you if you win!) Good luck, all!

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Let’s take a look at book 2 in Dani Harper’s Grim Series

Storm Bound

Grim #2

Amazon|B&N 

A little about Dani:

“There isn’t anything Dani Harper likes better than exploring myth and legend – unless it’s writing sizzling and suspenseful fantasy. Of course, all of her stories have at least one foot firmly in the netherworld!”

Right now I’m bringing ancient Celtic mythology into modern-day America! The inspiration comes partly from my Welsh gramma, and partly from the many British storybooks I had as a child. I grew up on tales of the Fair Ones, the Fae, the Sidhe, and the Tylwyth Teg. So it seems natural to revisit that world as an adult. Plus, I get to write about one of my all-time favorite creatures – the Black Dog, herald of Death!  STORM WARRIOR and STORM BOUND are Books 1 and 2 of my new GRIM SERIES. Book 3 is STORM WARNED, and it’s on my editor’s desk as I write this.

To purchase the first two books in the Grim Series click on the title here:  Storm Warrior and Storm Bound

Learn more about Dani and her books here: WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER or @Dani_Harper | BLOG  | NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP – (All subscribers are automatically entered in monthly giveaways!)  | AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE – (I’m always grateful for a “Like” on this page – it’s in the upper right)

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Make sure to check out all of the other stops on this month long tour HERE and enter the grand prize giveaway.