The Pitfalls of Self-Editing
By Jim Dempsey | November 23, 2018 |
Let’s get this out of the way right at the start. I’m an editor. I’m going to be biased, but I’ve seen this scenario so many times over the years.
As an author, you spend months, sometimes years, perfecting your novel, carefully considering each word, crafting every sentence, and polishing every paragraph.
When you’re finished you read through it only to find tons of typos and a multitude of grammatical blunders.
You edit as you go. You get rid of all those errors, and you rewrite and you rewrite. You sit at your computer and, to paraphrase Hemingway, you bleed. And you perfect.
You send your manuscript to some friends and beta readers, and they come back with a few issues and a few more spelling mistakes. And you edit and rewrite some more till you get your manuscript into the best shape you can possibly make it.
At this point, all the best advice says you should you send your manuscript to an editor. Let’s assume here that you do. And not just any editor. You’re diligent. You’ve searched the web, asked for recommendations, and found a well-qualified professional. Maybe you send a sample first. That’s always a good idea.
When the revision comes back, you read the body of the editor’s email first. It’s usually full of positive feedback and general encouragement. “Not too bad,” you think, “it could certainly have been worse.”
And then you open the document, and all you see is red—literally and figuratively.
Hardly a sentence is untouched. There are words—those carefully chosen words—crossed out and replaced. There are whole sentences—painstakingly rewritten sentences—moved or even removed.
“Am I such a bad writer?” you wonder. “Or is this editor an over-zealous quibbler who’s trying to justify that quite significant fee?”
It’s neither. There’s nothing wrong with your writing, or the editor.
Then what are all those red lines for?
There are countless things you could’ve missed on your third, fourth and tenth pass through your text, including:
- formatting: chapter two’s title might be in a slightly different typeface from all the other chapter headings
- inconsistencies: there are single quotation marks in one sentence, while you’ve used double everywhere else
- typing errors: it says form on page 42 when it should say from
- awkward phrasing: when you swap its two halves around, a sentence can often read better
- breathless paragraphs: these are great when you’re racing your characters through cities and down hillsides and around mountains, but, afterwards, the protagonist, and the reader, might enjoy a rest
And this is all before we get into passive voice, demonstratives, quantifiers, correlative conjunctions, and Oxford commas. And that’s just copy-editing. A structural edit with throw up issues with plot, character, story structure, and more.
So, how did you, the author, miss all of these after so many rewrites?
The simple answer is: self-editing isn’t enough. And here are three—among many other—reasons why:
1. You know what the text says. Or should say.
A spell-check will pick up on repeated words, such as:
Tom rode through the the ancient ruins in the dark.
But it will skip over missing words:
Tom rode through the ancient ruins the dark.
And you can easily miss these too, because your brain knows what the sentence is supposed to say.
2. You know what you mean. That doesn’t mean everyone else does.
Tom stopped his horse. He looked back.
Readers might think the horse looked back, not Tom (unless, of course, they already know the horse is a mare).
Dangling modifiers are perfect examples of this too:
Swinging his sword wildly, Tom’s horse stumbled and fell.
Even if Tom’s horse is very clever, it’s still unlikely that it was the one swinging the sword, wildly or not.
3. You know the story, and sometimes it really does help to explain it to the reader.
After days of searching for food, Tom was desperately hungry. He’d have to pick his uncle’s brains. Out of all the people he knew, his uncle had the biggest brain. It was the only way, if Tom was going to survive.
You, the author, know that Tom is not a zombie, but maybe, in all the commotion of the last battle, that’s not 100% clear to the reader yet.
“Tom has turned!” the reader cries. “Surely there’s no way to save mankind now.” Ten pages later, Tom saves mankind. And the reader is very confused. “Huh? But Tom was eating his uncle’s brains. He chose that nice big brain out of all the others.”
If readers are confused—even occasionally—they might not make it to the end of your novel, and will never touch anything else you write.
A good editor will read your novel at least twice and will be able to spot the exact point where any misunderstanding will arise and suggest a simple revision. Your readers will never know there was any confusion in the first place. And, when your next novel comes out, they’ll be much more likely to buy that one too.
Professional editors are trained to look for all these kinds of errors, which is why your friends and beta readers might miss them too. When editors read a novel for the first—and the second and the third—time, they don’t expect to see anything. They simply read and check the text, and suggest revisions.
Your readers deserve the best you can deliver, and self-editing is an important part of that, but you shouldn’t rely on self-editing alone before sending your novel into the world. Whether it’s for proofreading, copy-editing, or structural editing, make a professional editor part of your writing process if you can. But, yes, as I said, I’m biased.
What are your experiences with an editor? Was it worth the fee or not? What kind of difference did the editor make to your book—good or bad?
Jim Dempsey (he/him) is a book editor who specializes in detailed analysis and editing of novel manuscripts through his company, Novel Gazing. He has worked as an editor for more than 20 years. He has a master’s degree in creative writing and is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading and is a trustee of the Arkbound Foundation. Jim is fascinated by the similarities between fiction and psychotherapy, since both investigate the human condition, the things that make us uniquely human. He explores this at The Fiction Therapist website. If you have a specific concern with your novel, send an email to jim [at] thefictiontherapist.com, or visit the website to ask for a free sample edit. You can follow Jim on Instagram @the_fiction_therapist.
It’s always shocking how many mistakes you can find in something you’ve diligently reviewed again and again and again. Embarrassing, too. That said, I’m a man on a low budget and that budget doesn’t currently include editors, so I’m stuck with diligence.
I completely understand, JeffO. I could say all those things like you can’t afford not to have an editor or that bad reviews are costly too, but I know that doesn’t help when the budget is limited.
All I can add is that maybe editing isn’t as expensive as you think, and some editors, including me, will edit your book in parts, a few chapters at a time. That way you can send as much of the text as your budget allows that month, for example.
It’s not ideal. It’s slow for one, but the one advantage for the author is that you can revise later chapters based on the initial feedback on the early chapters (but bearing in mind that the editor can’t give a full overview of the story until the whole has been completed).
I’ve done this a few times, and it works out in the end. It’s a little frustrating for me when I have a great book and I have to wait till the next month, but that’s my problem, not the author’s.
All the best,
Jim
I LOVE THIS!!! I honestly don’t know what I would do without my editor and a second pair of literary eyes. Having one most definitely helps. Editors, to me, are pretty much a writers fairy Godmother! No lie… They seriously are! They wave their magical ‘writing’ wand around a few times, and those old, tired sentences a writer thought they carefully composed, transforms before their waking eyes into quite beautiful, lyrical-‘prose’, at least until the stroke of midnight anyway, and even, thereafter.
I had one professional edit that seemed as if it had been phoned in. The margins were peppered with vague comments on voice and the odd suggestion of a different word, along with a one for a new title. My next experience (same novel) has been entirely different. I was given notes on structure and voice that made me dig deep and re-think. I was also challenged one the ‘whys’ of what my characters did or didn’t do. My second edit revealed my deep theme to me and helped me understand why I was even writing this story. The two experiences were like night and day. The second editor also validated what you say here, that there are things the writer is never going to see because of the built-in myopia of being the one telling the story!!
Those ‘whys’ can be difficult, Susan, even for an editor to ask. Authors often write a whole novel precisely to avoid directly answering why. And sometimes the answers can go so deep that it’s confrontational for the author.
But occasionally I work on a novel and I feel there’s something missing, and it’s usually difficult to say exactly what, which leads to those why questions.
Usually the author doesn’t even need to say the answer out loud, but that extra train of thought can help to fill in any gaps. And you’re right, those are the kinds of gaps that are difficult for authors to see, because often they’re the things they don’t want to see. But that little nudge in the right direction can help.
Thanks for your input, Susan. I really appreciate it.
Jim
Thank you, Jim. Everything you say in this post is spot on. And since I am a full-time editor who explains these nuances to clients every day, I’ll be sure to share your post.
Yours,
Dee
Award winning author of A Keeper’s Truth
Thanks, Dee, that would be very kind if you shared.
All the best to you.
Jim
Jim– Good post. I would just add two points.
1. It may be that smart, perceptive writers are most vulnerable to thinking that self-editing is all they need. Smart people are more skillful at providing themselves with rational-sounding explanations for what they’ve written.
2. The word “editor” does not confer a special talent for seeing what the writer doesn’t, but needs to. The trade is awash in self-styled editors. The trick lies in separating the wheat from the chaff, and this is the writer’s responsibility.
Thanks for that, Barry. I agree completely.
Your first point reminds me of a time I met a personal trainer. His slogan was: if you’re training yourself then you’re working for an idiot. He suggested I adapt his slogan for my work. He was a generous guy, but I thought it was a bit harsh.
As for your second point, you’re right, it is the writer’s responsibility to find the best editor, but I think that’s such a shame. I find it such a shame that there is so much ‘chaff’ among the ‘wheat.’ And I’m not sure what we can do about it except to advise authors to make sure they find someone well qualified. And I always think the best place to start is with one of the professional organisations.
Thanks for your wise words, Barry. All the best.
Jim
Jim, so true about the value of a good editor, who can offer valuable information on a written work, on multiple levels. Though editing can be expensive, project-dependent.
The worst writer-type is one who also is a professional editor, who insists on editing his own work, even though he knows all the pitfalls of which you write.
Oh, wait, that person is me. Slinking out of the picture now …
I know exactly what you mean, Tom. And that experience inspired this article.
I sometimes think back to those manuscripts I hammered out in the days – long ago – before I realised I was an editor and not a writer.
Sometimes I think I can go back to them with my experience now and solve them. Then I send the pages to some trusted readers and – BANG – those manuscripts go back in the drawer where they belong.
Kim Bullock’s recent article here in WU, Resurrecting a Shelved Manuscript: Good Idea or Waste of Time?, helped me a lot. It set me thinking, and I cam up with this. I was going to include some pieces of my own work, but that drawer is staying closed now.
Cheers, Tom. Thanks for your input.
Jim
Good post and thoughts, Jim. As an editor of 30+ years, I understand the concept that editing has become too often associated with costs, and is now considered a ‘disposable’ service, since we can all produce a ‘novel’ and shove it out to the public as a self-published book.
I would add that excellent editors do not change your material to match their personal ‘likes’ or ‘dislikes’. Unless you’re paying me to ghostwrite or ghostedit your book, I will only offer suggestions and examples of rewrites. These will always be done with the intent of helping you to see some alternatives in how certain things can be expressed in your writing.
Self-editing is an important function for any author, but I see too many authors grasping at any straw of feedback, and thus becoming confused and exasperated, as this feedback IS based on likes and dislikes. Some beta readers have the objectivity necessary to provide strongly supportive feedback, but if this generous person prefers romance to horror, and your novel is horror-filled from the opening sentence, it’s doubtful that this beta reader will be able to give you their best efforts.
I urge any author who feels they have a book ready to submit to agents, publishers, or to self-publish that they scrape up the dough to hire an excellent editor for an assessment. This usually flexible service is a broad review of your entire book that knocks the peaks off problems that are currently ripping through the seemingly smooth surface of your material.
An assessment will note that the places where you laboriously crafted plot pinnacles, which now need to be better balanced so the story doesn’t jolt the reader like riding a parachute through a storm. An assessment will point out missing transitions and opportunities for micro-hooks, or pushing a character’s flaw to the reader-wince point, or correcting a logistics problem.
As one poster here expressed, not all editor experiences are alike. So, determine what you want to accomplish by having your manuscript edited, then question your editor choice about achieving those specific things.
oyes, assessments are usually the least costly editing review…
Thanks, Jim, for encouraging writers to seek editorial support.
Thank you, Jim. Very helpful post today. Your timing is perfect for me because in my authors group, the Pound Ridge Authors Society, we are having a meeting in January on manuscript editing. I’ve shared this post with these writers.
Like Susan mentions above, I’ve had my share of faulty copy editors too. Question for you. When a writer hires a “copy editor” is that different editing from hiring a “line editor”? I used to think that a copy editor performed lined editing, but I’ve learned that for many editors that is not true. Would you be willing to define copy editing vs. line editing for us?
Thanks for sharing my post to your group, Paula. Very generous of you.
I’ll try to answer your question, but risk being contradicted as so many editors have different definitions of all the types of editing. It could be a whole post on its own. In fact, maybe I’ll make that my next article.
Line editing is often taken to mean editing the text, line by line, for tone, structure, syntax. That kind of thing. While copy-editing is considered to be more revising typos, grammar, inconsistencies, etc.
Personally, I don’t see how you can separate the two. I don’t see any point in correcting one and not the other while you’re going through the text line by line anyway. So, for me, and many other editors, it’s all copy-editing.
I hope that helps. If not, I’ll try to give a better explanation in my next article. And if you can’t wait for that, you can always email me. The address is on my website.
Thanks, and please give my regards to the group.
Jim
Yes, this is clear. Thanks so much. I would definitely look forward to more explanation and examples of line editing vs. copy editing.
For my first novel I had a mid-level edit done by a professional; some of her suggestions I took and some I didn’t.
For the proofreading stage – well, I am fortunate enough to have a husband who can not only spot errors at fifty paces, he can remember that I chose to hyphenate this word thirty pages ago, so why isn’t it hyphenated here?
So far I have not had a single reader point out a typo in my book, but I am trying not to be too proud about this as pride is well known to precede a fall!
Awesome advice :) A good professional (because like every profession, not everyone is good) is a professional for a reason.
As a reader, I utilise the Amazon “Look Inside” feature. If it’s obvious a book isn’t edited (and it always is), I won’t buy it. If a writer (because how can someone call themselves an author when they haven’t hired an editor? I don’t care how smart they think they are) isn’t prepared to spend the money on an editor, why should I hand over my cold hard cash? I’m not a charity.
Lovely article, and I would indeed have loved to have had my books professionally edited. That is only a pipe dream when the harsh truth arrives that doing that for 1 book would cost me 100% of 9 months of my current salary at the current USD exchange rate.
Le sigh.
Hiring an editor is probably the most costly part of publishing a book. A detailed structural edit can run to a few thousand dollars. That’s difficult for most people to meet.
A new initiative is trying to make it easier for authors to find ways to fund their work. It’s called PubLaunch, and you can find it here: https://www.publaunch.com/.
With this very problem in mind, I wrote another article a few years ago that might be worth checking out. It’s called: 5 Ways to Cut the Cost of a Professional Editor, and you can find it here: https://publishingperspectives.com/2015/03/5-ways-to-cut-the-cost-of-a-professional-editor/
I really wish there was a way for every author to get quality editing. It’s a problem I’ve wrestled with for many years but haven’t found the answer yet. Maybe someday. But that doesn’t give you much comfort now, Nancy. Sorry.
Jim
Jim,
I found this post very helpful. Like some who responded before me, it is hard to know when to hire an editor. I also wonder how to find the right one. Do you have any recommendations, or can you direct us to a reliable resource for finding the right editor?
Of course, I’d recommend my own company, Novel Gazing, Nancy, but there are many other great editors around.
I think the best way to find a good editor is to first check the directories of the main editing societies. I’m a member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders, and their list outs available to anyone.
Then ask for a sample edit. Editing is a very personal process, you need to have a ‘click.’
Good luck with it.
Jim
Thank you so much. I will follow up with your recommendations!
I’m a freakishly good amateur proofreader, but I still fall short of what a professional can achieve. A large part of the problem is that it’s much harder to see problems when you know what the text is supposed to say (e.g. if you wrote it).
I’ve developed tricks to minimize the typos that sneak through (proofread on screen, then on tablet, then on paper).
The trouble is, even with that said, there are different kinds of editing, and it would be freakishly rare for one person to be at a professional level in all of them.
Money paid to a good editor that fits your needs as a writer is the wisest financial investment you can make in your own work.
(The wisest non-financial investment is time spent to consciously improve your writing. The next wisest financial investment IMO is to pay for a good cover designer.)
Great article. It reminds me of the adage that even a lawyer who represents himself in the courtroom has an idiot for a client. You are just too close to the action, too emotionally invested in the writing to do the best job (and you should be emotionally invested in the writing). I’ve had the great fortune and pleasure of having Jim edit my two novels, and there is no one better!
Thank you for the kind words, Andy, and great to see you here. And now I know where that personal trainer got his line – from his lawyer. Or maybe he used to be a lawyer until he represented himself.
All the best. Hope it’s going well with the novels. Looking forward to number three!
Jim