A copy or line edit can be intense. Sure, as the writer, I’m not the one doing the work, but the waiting is hell. Worse, when those edits arrive, it can be crushing to just see the number of things you have to address.
Some people might just accept the changes and move on. I can’t do that. I need to go through each one – not because I don’t trust the editor, but because I want to learn and improve. The best way for me to do this is by taking the time to look at the changes and understand why they’ve been made.
The editor I’m working with on my current series is fantastic. Rachel has done amazing work on Introductions: Volume One and Reality Check and having that consistency for the next book in the Weight of the World series makes total sense to me.
That doesn’t mean it’s easy, though. There’s still a lot of emotions and thoughts that run through my head. Now, after going through her line edit changes for Reality Check’s sequel, I have a better idea of what to expect and what to do about them.
Digesting the edits
Whether it’s a copy/line edit or a manuscript assessment, I’ve taken the first piece of advice to heart.
Take time to digest the feedback.
I’ll look through the feedback, comments and changes right away – I can’t help myself – but I won’t do anything with them for a while. It doesn’t matter what I’m expecting, or how many there are, they hit like a gut punch. A blow to the ego that I’m not as good as I think I am.
Of course, that’s the wrong way to think about it, and that’s why I don’t act on those impulses. With a little time, I can change my mindset on the whole process and look at it as an opportunity to learn and improve.
It also helps me be objective about the feedback. At the end of the day, it’s my choice what I accept or change, so the final version is on me, but the breathing room is super important.
Quashing the outrage
I’m going to state this right here; I love my editor. Rachel is an absolute delight to work with every time, and her work is top notch. I’m so glad to have a great working relationship with her.
That said, every copy/line edit from her sees me repeat the same phrase – or variation of it – more times than I can count, and it goes something like “FFS, it’s literally right there in the next line/sentence/paragraph.” Or sometimes the previous one.
Literally. I say it a lot.
This isn’t a reflection on her work, but me. You see, I know what I want the reader to understand when they read something, but I’m also aware of literally EVERYTHING to do with my story. Readers are not. So, when Rachel doesn’t understand something, 99% of the time, it’s something I have to address.
In short, just because I think something is clear or obvious doesn’t mean it actually is.
This is just one of the reasons editors are so valuable. It also means I have to fix something. In some cases, I do fight my corner, but once I’ve gotten over the burst of outrage that my story isn’t perfect (because it clearly isn’t), I’m able to go, okay, let’s do this a different way.
Every time, and I mean literally every time, it makes my story better.
Creating my own “editing checklist”
I probably should have done this after the copy edit of my first book, Reality Check, but I didn’t – either because I didn’t think it was worth doing or, more likely, I just didn’t think about it.
There was definitely a thought in the back of my mind that the editor I worked with would catch my bad habits and mistakes, and I’m sure they will. After all, that’s their job, but I want to get better. I want to improve, and while I can spin a good story, I don’t think there will ever be a day where I think I’ve got nothing else to learn.
If I ever do think that way, I give you permission to slap some sense into me.
My plan now is to look through all the edits and comments that have been made on the first two books in the Weight of the World series and find the things I do consistently. With those, I’m going to make a checklist, so that at the end of each draft I can search through my manuscript and find out where I’m using these words and phrases too often.
In time, I hope to get rid of some of these habits, although they may well get replaced by new ones. With every set of comments I get on a line edit, I’ll update my checklist. It’s just another way to keep improving.
It won’t stop me writing the next story, though!