 For Authors: March 19, 2014 Issue [#6220] |
  For Authors
This week: The Impotence of a Good Editor Edited by: Jeff  
More Newsletters By This Editor 
1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions
"Some writers enjoy writing, I am told. Not me. I enjoy having written.
-- George R.R. Martin
Trivia of the Week: A typo (short for "typographical error") was originally a reference to an error in typesetting. It's evolved over the years, though, to include most inadvertent errors. Errors of ignorance, however, such as misusing a word or spelling errors that cannot be attributed to a simple duplication, omission, transposition, or substitution of a few letters, are not considered true typos. For example, the error in the title of this newsletter is an (intentional) error of ignorance, while typing "teh" instead of "the" would be considered a typo. Typos that result in another correctly spelled but unintended word (again like the title of this newsletter... or writing "though" instead of "through") and thus are not caught by a spellchecker are sometimes called atomic typos.
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THE IMPOTENCE OF A GOOD EDITOR
Sometimes (okay, a lot of the time), even good writers are prone to typos, spelling mistakes, or other writing errors. It's just a hazard of the job; when you're generating so many words and then going back, looking at them, and tweaking them over and over and over again, it's only natural that you start to lose some objectivity due to the fact that you're so involved with the words on such a minute level. This is the same reason why you can scour an area for something for a long period of time, and it takes someone else coming in and saying, "Oh, there it is!" It's not that the other person is smarter than you or more capable... they just have a fresh set of eyes that haven't been staring at the same thing minute after minute, hour after hour, or day after day. It's easier for them to spot what doesn't belong.
Even though the error in the title of this newsletter was intentional and meant to be a little tongue-in-cheek, the truth is that it's not that hard to see how it could end up being an unintentional error. "Importance" and "Impotence" sound similar, have a lot of the same letters, are about the same number of letters... if you're typing fast, your fingers might accidentally forget the "r" or accidentally change the "a" to an "e" and suddenly you've got a typo. Add to that a predictive text feature or automatic typo correction, and you could end up with an impotent editor rather than an important one pretty quickly! 
Third-party editors are essential to your writing process. You need that objective opinion, not just to correct your typos and make sure you're using the correct verb tense... but they can also be an invaluable creative resource, letting you know if something is unclear. You've got the entire world of a story in your head; it's entirely possible that you might omit a key piece of information that you know but you forgot to mention in the story... and it takes an outside reader to realize, "Hey, that thing was never explained."
When it comes to selecting an editor, there are three main criteria you need to find someone whose opinion you trust, whose discretion you trust, and whose feedback you value. An editor isn't going to help if you feel like you have a better grasp of the written word than they do, if you don't trust them to keep your early drafts and missteps private, or if you don't think their opinion matters. Find an editor that complements your own abilities and can improve your work. If you create a lot of typos, find someone who can read closely and catch them. If you mix verb tenses or points of view, find someone that can point out when you're doing that. If you know you don't write dialogue particularly well, or have a problem structuring the bones of a story, make sure you find an editor who understands those creative aspects and can guide you in terms of ways that you can improve those weak areas of your writing.
So how do you find a good editor? In my experience, there are two ways to get a good editor to look at your work: you make friends with one, or you pay one. Over the years, I've developed a collection of fellow writers, creative executives, and other individuals that I trust to give me an honest assessment of my writing. We're comfortable giving each other our work, we trust one another, and we help one another because we know eventually we'll return the favor. It took a while to build those connections (years of sending material back and forth), but they've proved an invaluable resource when I need another set of eyes or a second (or third or fourth) opinion.
The other option is to pay for one. I would suggest finding someone whose skills impress you or that you admire as a writer, and offer to compensate them for their time in editing your work. Thankfully, Writing.Com has a lot of great features available for exactly this purpose, such as Auto-Review Rewards (which work great for accumulating a large number of reviews), Review Requests (which are excellent for asking specific individuals to read your work), and even contests and other writing challenges where you can just hone your craft, compare yourself to other writers, and maybe even get some feedback from the judges. And you never know... if you and this editor you're paying hit it off, you might even become friends and end up swapping material and favors instead of cash!
Don't be afraid to approach someone and make them a reasonable offer. The worst they can say is no, and you might be surprised at how many people are willing to read and give feedback on your work if you approach them as a respectful admirer of their expertise who's willing to compensate them for their time. Just make sure your offer is appropriate to the amount of work you're asking; offering 1,000 Gift Points to read a 50,000-word novel isn't much of an incentive. Remember that $1 equals 10,000 Gift Points, so ten cents to edit your whole book is on the really cheap side. If you really believe in your work and it's a full-length novel you're asking someone to read, consider spending $10 on Gift Points and offering a quality editor 100,000 GPs to review your lengthy work. That's an impressive sum of GPs that many members could put toward saving for their memberships, running their groups, participating in auctions and raffles, etc. And it sure beats professional editor rates in the neighborhood of $0.032 per word... which would make a 50,000-word novel cost nearly $1,600!  that's Dollars, not gift points... the equivalent of 16,000,000 Gift Points!
Suddenly that $10 spent on gift points doesn't seem all that astronomical, huh? 
However you find one, consider engaging the services of a good editor if you're writing something that you want taken seriously. Find people you trust to give you honest, in-depth feedback and critique so that you can put out the best version of your work possible. It's invaluable to have that second set of eyes to look at your work and find the errors you glance over simply as a function of the fact that you're so close to the material and have agonized over it for so long.
Until next time,
-- Jeff
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I encourage you to check out the following Writing.Com items:
He knew if he walked out the door, things would never be the same.
Jimmie only had two options, go through that door and let fate take over or spend the rest of his life wondering what if. What if this was the only chance he was going to be offered to achieve his dreams? What if he failed? What if this was the first step in making his day dreams real? What if…
The Finders quarter was full of sound and fury. Hannah Arendt stood In the front of the crowd in the vast common room in front of the stage where a man was being held by guards. The people screamed at the man, but she couldn't make out what they were screaming. Then the High Rector of the Finders walked out and spoke, again she could not hear anything he said, except for one sentence "and so this man is condemned to death for blasphemy!"
Allecta pushed a chair against the wall, then she struggled to climb up it. When she, finally, managed to get on top of it, she stood up. Five books were within reach. She pulled at the edge of the closest one and tried to lift it, but its weight was more than she could hold, and it landed on the floor with a loud thunk.
She felt a moment's panic, fearing that someone might have heard. She held still, for a short time, then climbed back down the chair. She sat on the floor and turned the book to the first page and began to read.
Knock, Knock, Knock!
Rudy wondered who was knocking on the door on his one day of the week to sleep in. He hoped it wasn't a salesman. He opened the door while he was only wearing his boxer shorts to emphasize this was not a good time to call on him.
Recently, a friend asked me if I had ever seen a ghost. Did I believe in ghosts? Why or why not?
You know, I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person with an eye on the mystical, it's true. But, since you've asked, I have to admit -- right here, in front of God and everybody, as the saying goes -- I do believe in spooks. I do believe in spooks. I do . . . Well, you get the picture.
I've never seen one, but I have encountered one. Of that I am surer than sure.
Here's what happened.
I just spent three restless nights in the Withlacoochee National Forest. My quest to find a real home and a purpose to my life had taken me to central Florida. I had been struggling with the increasing heat and humidity. Compounding my predicament even further; I had not eaten in days. I was striving just to stay alive, but for what reason, I wondered.
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Feedback on my last newsletter about the difference between excuses and justifications for not writing:
Bikerider  writes, "Jeff, Another helpful newsletter, thank you. I am retired and so I have lots of time to write, but sometimes I think having so much time began to give me 'burn out.' I find it helpful to take one day a week off. I do no writing on Sunday, not even a post card. (do they still make them?). It can be any day, of course, but since Sunday is normally a day to relax anyway, I found that day works best for me."
Taking a break is incredibly important too... writing is a taxing endeavor and it's important to give yourself a break from all the hard work every once in a while. 
Seffi  writes, "I have to admit I'm a terrible procrastinator when it comes to writing, or anything else for that matter and I do struggle to juggle a busy work and family life with my writing. I've tried setting aside time to write, read, review but a schedule never seems to work for me, I thinks it's my rebellious side. But on the plus side I do have the most organised iTune, DVDs, books and airing cupboard of anyone I've ever met - it's boarder line OCD. What's odd is that while I'm organising I seem to come up with ideas. Maybe it's just my mind's way of relaxing."
If organizing your media helps you brainstorm, keep it up! We all find inspiration in different ways. 
Doug Rainbow writes, "Unless you write for a living, why would anyone need either a reason or excuse for not writing? If you are not compelled to write by the love -- or at least the enjoyment -- of writing, then don't write and don't worry about it. When I don't write it is not because I am blocked. It is just because I don't feel like it. For me forced creative writing is not very good anyway."
I think that, whether you write for a living or write for fun, writing is hard work when done properly. And I think a lot of people naturally procrastinate when it comes time to do something they know is going to be difficult.
ENB writes, "Great newsletter! It struck me to the core because I always find excuses not to write. I guess my goal today will be actually writing something."
Good luck with your goal! 
ANN Counselor, Lesbian & Happy writes, "great newsletter.i needed this message hammered into my head 50 years ago when i said 'i want to write a book". now i tell people; DON'T PUT OFF DOING IT! today i can't write due to broken hand WHILE i desperately want to be writing the book scrambling to get out of my head! the story 1929127 is one i scribbled 30 years ago...yet still "put writing off." i hope your newsletter stops excuses and leads to many successes. ann (sorry but it is slow when hunt $ peck typing)" (Submitted item: "Invalid Item" )
Thanks for writing in, Ann!
Michael Thomas-Knight writes, "Great article Jeff! I had a similar problem for the past few months. It was nothing like writer's block -- the problem was that I had too many ideas swirling around my head and couldn't focus on one story in particular. I was paralyzed by idea congestion, lol. I finally decided to start with the shortest stories -- to clear them out of the way for a bigger project."
I've experienced that as well. It's dangerous to jump from idea to idea, pursuing the next one before you finish the current one. I spent a lot of years with a lot of half-finished stories that way. 
The Run-on King PDG Member writes, "Thanks Jeff You taught me a lot with this article. I like who you summed up inaction verses action. As you pointed out objects not in motion (writing) try to stay not in motion (not writing). We are like the laws of physics. Once the object is in motion it tends to stay in motion. So if we over come our rest states and face that white screen and start typing in black soon we have filled it up with black or color it doesn't matter at least it is no longer white. I fight this law of physics every day. My way to fight it is to log into to WDC and start reviewing the newbies. then after my daily goal commitment to the Story Mistress I start in with my other commitments. Once you get into a routine it becomes easier to stay in motion then to sit back and pull up Netflix and drowned in old B grade movies. Or hide in rereading one of my books from my book collection."
It's important to find ways to stay productive and inspired. Glad to hear WdC works like that for you!
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