New Writers Ask About Editors: What Does My Editor Need to Know?
When you line up a freelance editor to go over your work, it helps if you have a good grasp of the same things you want them to have a good grasp of so that you can tell when an editor is on the mark with their suggestions for your manuscript. I’ve been blessed (?) with some editorial encounters that have been, shall we say, learning experiences. This one stands out for reasons that will become obvious.
Here’s the setup: One of my ghostwriting clients had hired a freelance editor to go over the work we produced and send him a detailed edit plan. This encounter etched in my mind the importance of making sure your editor has a basic knowledge of the craft of writing and specialized knowledge of genre elements. It also inspired this article.
Tools of the Craft—Parts of Speech
Obviously, it’s crucial that your editor have a working knowledge of grammar and word usage. Without that, they are unlikely to be competent to review your manuscript. The editor in this case gave our mutual client a laundry list of things he felt required change. Here are a few of them:
Editor: Find another verb to replace wolfishly. / Me: Wolfishly is an adverb not a verb.
Editor: The verb sinuously is not sexually suggestive enough. / Me: Sinuously is an adverb not a verb.
Editor: Replace sinuously with a verb that shows the demon’s intentions, i.e., seductively. / Me: I’ll bet you can guess what I’m going to say.
Editor: Replace schooning with a different adjective. / Me: Schooning actually is a verb here, not an adjective.
I also explained that the words (adverbs and verbs alike) were carefully chosen for their evocation of the way in which someone (a dancing girl) or something (a fleet of sailing ships) are moving.
The editor also suggested wordings that were grammatically flawed. For example he suggested this:
The Apprentice was not in the mood for the avuncular pat on the cheek and turned his head strongly which gave the Mage the opportunity he sought to snatch a few strands of his apprentice’s hair then release his grasp of his apprentice.
The editor felt this was necessary to turn the Mage’s acquisition of the hair into “action” instead of implying that the hair had been acquired in a more passive way (from a hair ornament, in this case). It spoils a later reveal about the Mage’s real intentions toward his apprentice. It’s also an awkward run-on sentence with awkward physical movements. And it switches viewpoint from the Apprentice at the beginning of the sentence to the Mage at the end.
The Language of the Genre and Story
If you write genre fiction, you want an editor who understands your audience and genre and how they affect the language you use. By language I don’t mean whether the characters are speaking English or Elvish or Klingon. If the story is epic fantasy, you want to trust that your editor isn’t flagging words like glamour, wraith, diadem or vambrace. You also want to trust that they are apprised of the reading level of most epic fantasy or science fiction novels … and that they read at that level themselves.
This editor did not read fantasy or science fiction at all. He insisted that such words as the ones above were too “foreign” and that the novel, which was written at a 11th grade reading level, needed to be rewritten to a 5th grade level so the “average” adult reader could follow it. I would not call readers of science fiction and fantasy 5th grade level readers. In my experience, they are people who have a thirst for new ideas, new terminology, novel peoples, creatures, and places, and expanded perceptions of the world or the universe. They are not afraid of having to assimilate new words.
This editor was unfamiliar with a great many words that are often-used in the fantasy genre, including the ones mentioned above. Of all the words he didn’t know, the most surprising was sentry. Though shards, haunches, and lee were right up there. These are not difficult words, nor are they foreign words, but they were clearly outside this editor’s experience. An editor who reads and enjoys the genre you write at the level you’ve written it is a jewel of great worth.
What Words Mean
It should go without saying that whatever genre you write you want your editor to understand how your choice of words contributes to the meaning of your action and dialogue. This editor suggested rewordings that changed the meaning of the action or the intent of the dialogue. For example, the manuscript said that our young apprentice “inclined his head slightly” in response to a request from a Mage he has just realized is skeevy.
Editor: You could just say The Apprentice nodded in agreement.
Me: But the Apprentice didn’t nod in agreement, he inclined his head enough to demonstrate acquiescence, a gesture that showed his hard-won perception that the Mage was a false ally.
The editor also suggested rewordings that were needlessly complex, above his stated target reading level, and syntactically flawed.
Editor: Add this sentence: The Mage was beginning to become agitated by the Queen’s naiveté.
Me: Beginning to become is getting ready twice to be agitated without actually becoming agitated. Agitated is also a step to the right of what he’s actually feeling. Annoyed or irritated, perhaps. Agitated is also above the reading level you proposed, as is naiveté—which really is a foreign word. It’s French.
In the next episode of New Writers Ask, I’ll turn from the use of words to the elements of plotting.
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