Joan Hall has a great post on Story Empire today about one of a writer’s thorniest problems: editing. Check it out to learn more about the process, including the differences between the various types of editing available. This is something every writer needs to understand, in order to produce the best book possible, and I hope you’ll consider sharing the post far and wide. Thanks, and thanks to Joan for such an informative and helpful post! 🙂
Hey, SE Readers. Joan with you today. Let’s talk about editing.
I recently read a book that had a good plot. The story was intriguing. The writing grammatically correct. I didn’t find any spelling or punctuation errors. Sound like the person had a good editor, right?
Not necessarily. Throughout the book, there were countless repeated words. Here are two examples.
“Yardley stood outside the bedroom doors. Double doors, white with copper trim. She pictured Isaac in the morning, opening both doors and what he must’ve seen. She took both knobs and pushed the doors open, the way a child might.”
Or this:
“Yardley knew she was lucky to be a federal prosecutor. The state prosecutors were overworked and had little time to help in any investigations or interviews. Federal prosecutors could pick and choose their cases and take all the time they needed. Whereas a state prosecutor
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The Write Stuff 
I enjoyed Joan’s post. She really broke down the different types of editing in a great way!
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I agree, Jan. It was very useful! So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
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“What’s in a Edit” ?????
For a start, it should read, ‘What’s in an Edit’! 😀
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Consider her point MADE, Ann. No matter how talented we are, we can ALL use more eyes on our work, because we tend to read what we THINK we wrote, instead of what’s on the page. I wouldn’t be surprised to discover Joan did this on purpose, for emphasis. 🙂 The post is still excellent, and I hope you’ll enjoy it, regardless. Thanks for stopping by; 🙂
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Ann, thank you for catching that. I can’t tell you how many times I read that as “an edit.” Which proves that we need editors!
Blushing. 🤭
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Joan, and Marcia, must admit I did wonder if it was a test. 😀 😀 But seriously, it was a very good article, and no-one knows more than me how easy it is to miss one’s own gaffs. I just had to go back in and edit a FB post TWICE, after I’d hit the Post button. You should see the state of some of my Messenger posts, which can’t be edited once posted. 😀
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I know that feeling. It’s like the second I hit the send button, I see my mistakes.
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Joan, as I say, if I had a dime for every time I typed one word when I meant another, I could retire immediately. You go back and re-read, and STILL see what you intended to write instead of what you actually typed. And I think that proves your point. Good editors are absolutely necessary for all of us, pretty much, in order to turn out the best work we can. Your post was excellent! 🙂
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Thank you, Marcia. I didn’t intend to have the typo but it did prove my point.
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I think this is what’s called an “object lesson.” 😀 And there isn’t a one of us who can’t identify with it. 😀
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