The more and more experience I’ve gained as a writer, the more I have come to realize the consistent importance of a reliable editor. Editors perform different functions during different seasons of a writer’s career. At an elementary level, they can be a stead guide toward good form in grammar and mechanics. For more intermediate writers, editors can provide recommendations on structure and style. However, for advanced writers, enlisting an editor can be the most important task of all, finding an individual or team that can help you continually improve your work, especially as you pursue publication.
In my work as both a writer and an editor, I have come to realize that editors bring value to writers in several key ways:
- Evaluating and Improving Writing
- Bringing Simplicity and Clarity to Written Work
- Helping Writers Achieve Their Goals
Below, we’ll consider each of these editorial functions and how an editor could make a difference to your writing.
1. Editors Evaluate and Improve Writing
The first role of an editor is perhaps the most obvious: to evaluate and improve written work. For any writer, and especially for a new one, it can be particularly nerve-racking to hand your work over to an editor. After all, you are taking something that you have had sole or primary agency in creating and handing it over to someone who won’t leave it the same way when he or she is finished reading, reviewing, and critiquing.
Invariably, I have found the more meaningful the work is to me personally, the more difficult it can be to entrust it to an editor. On the one hand, I have few qualms about a peer editor reviewing corporate, professional work. Since colleagues have the same perspective, it’s easy to accept their edits as something in the best interest of the company. Then again, a very personal piece can be difficult to accept criticism about. However, it’s usually these works that benefit the most from an editor who can provide an unbiased account of its overall quality, strengths and weaknesses, and most importantly, how it might be improved.
When I make recommendations as an editor, I try to sympathize with the individual author’s writing style. Every writer has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. No one is above editorial advice. Still, I try to edit in a manner that helps authors understand their strengths and highlights where they can quickly and effectively strengthen their writing.
While embracing editorial feedback can be difficult at first, a competent editor ensures that an essay, chapter, or blog post is in a better place after the review process than it was before. The advice of multiple editors further hones the work as each editor brings a new perspective and area of editorial expertise.
2. Editors Bring Simplicity and Clarity to Written Work
As a developing writer, it took me a particularly long time to realize that it wasn’t my natural tendency to write concisely, or even clearly. In school, students are often encouraged, explicitly or implicitly, to build complex sentence structures as a way of demonstrating their mastery of the English language. Some teachers reward these students as the best writers in the class, since they employ a robust vocabulary or can write at length about a subject with ease.
Certainly, word choice and sentence structure are two hallmarks of mature writing. But this does not mean that that writers who explicitly choose to build more and more intricate paragraphs are necessarily more effective communicators than those who adopt a simpler structure. In some cases, the opposite may even be true.
I distinctly remember a period during my middle and high school years when I went out of the way to create long sentences—some even 50 or 75 words long. Of course, they were by no means clear and concise. It was only after years of working with various editors—peer reviewers, college professors, and professional colleagues—that I came to value simple, clear prose. When you write clearly, you have the power to make even the most complex subjects seem approachable. Conversely, unnecessarily complicated prose can make even discourse cumbersome.
Working with effective editors has always made my work more clear and easier to understand. As a younger writer, cutting copy made me concerned that I would lose some of my artistic flourish. But in time, I’ve realized that an editor that understands your unique voice can shine through your work even while practicing word economy. When editing the work of others, I try to follow the same principle, approaching each piece with the opportunity to clarify the message from a reader’s perspective while maintaining and even enhancing the author’s voice.
3. Editors Help Writers Achieve Their Goals
Lastly, editors play a pivotal role in aiding writers in achieving their personal goals. It’s important to realize that not every writer has the same goal. Some look to see their name in print with a major press. Others simply want a clean draft to self-publish. Many prefer traditional print media, while others seek to publish on the web. The right editor understands your individual goals and wants to help you reach them.
Ensuring you and your editor are aligned about your goals helps both parties get the most of the relationship. Editors with specific knowledge about a particular publication, genre, or medium can provide specialized advice, but you can also do well to work with a generalist who understands your writing style and wants the best for you.
The editorial relationship is ultimately one that depends on trust: you are enlisting your editor to do the best possible job reviewing your work, and you are entrusting him or her to be honest in giving constructive feedback. In turn, the editor trusts that you are willing and able to accept feedback, so he or she can be as pointed and detailed as necessary to provide recommendations that work towards your goal.
Regardless of the type of writing I’m reviewing, I want authors to know that I have their best interests in mind. Through suggesting improvements to the work in front of me, I aim to help every author produce better written work and help him or her take critical steps toward meeting their personal or professional goals.
Achieve Your Writing Goals Today
Engaging the assistance of an editor can make all the difference in preparing your work for publication. Whether you are looking to make fundamental improvements to your writing, communicate more clearly, or even pursue publication, partnering with an editor can help you achieve your writing goals.
Not sure where to begin? Consider working with a general editor who can review your work with experience and candor. You’ll be able to hone your writing while producing a superior product for your intended audience.
Are you interested in hiring an editor? Contact me to get started today! You’ll have access to years of writing and editing experience to help you enhance your written work!