Why Employing an Editor Might Not Be the “Fix” You’re Looking For (Yet)
Before you approach an editor, you have to ask this tough question
Imagine you are a writer with a new manuscript, one that you have worked hard on and just completed. It could be a novel, a memoir or a collection of poetry.
You decide that you want the manuscript to be edited, so what would you ask an editor first?
What if the first question you should ask is: “Is this ready for editing?”
Usually the first round of editing is called “structural” or “developmental”. Writers think this means the editor will tell them how to fix their plot or their characters, or fix structural issues, for example.
Or the writer thinks they’re ready for copy editing — the manuscript is finished, in reasonable shape, and the copy editing will pick up grammar and punctuation errors.
What if your manuscript is not ready for any of this yet?
What if you would be wasting money on an editor because there is simply too much mess for any editor to provide good feedback on?
I think most editors who freelance for writers (rather than work for publishers) would agree that at least half of the manuscripts they are approached about…
