Friday, June 1, 2012

Wise and Beautiful Editors Who Say YES!

Yes is an awesome word!
Of course editors who say yes, often say it with a few more words like, "we would like to include your story/poem _ in our upcoming anthology/magazine." Those are very beautiful words for a writer to read.

So, what else is there to say? Yes is self explanatory, right?

Well . . .usually I've found that "Yes" from an editorial team usually comes with qualifiers like, "we would like to publish your work, however we would like you to make the following changes . . ."

Editors, as I hinted at in my last post "Wise and Beautiful Editors Who Say No?", are the managers of quality control for their publications. They want to have every line of a poem, every word in a story, and every page in a book be just right. They keep us from embarassing ourselves with misplaced commas, and ask us to replace awkward wordings with vibrant ones.

On three occassions I've had editors say yes without qualifiers, and all three times I regretted not having more feedback when I saw the finished product in print.

Editing can bring a piece of writing from ok to awesome.

What kind of experience have you had with editors and editing?

100 Days of Revision Update, Day 31
In the last thirty days I haven't hit my revision goals on a daily basis, but for the month I'm exactly where I want to be, just under the halfway mark through my novel. I have much, much more work to do just on my own, and then I'll read it aloud and go through it again before August 10th.

My youngest daughter, age 10 (soon 11), has been an invaluable asset. I think she may be an editor in training. She's very good at finding errors in my writing, and even in books she reads that have been published. Have a typo? She'll find it. Have a character doing something out of character? She'll point it out. The last few days during our state testing (a requirement for homeschoolers in our state), she lamented that the reading comprehension, vocabulary, and spelling tests were all way too easy. I know this all sounds like an incredible brag, so just to keep me humble, she hated the math section all the way through . . .we probably need to lessen our reading time and up our math time at home.

My oldest daughter also thought reading comprehension was easy, but felt suprised that she thought the science section too simple . . .she wondered how anyone could not know which birds are more likely to eat nectar out of a list that included parrots, robins and hummingbirds. She has no interest in editing, but she wants to create a video game for my book when it's finished.

So, my revision is going good so far, and my kids rock!

14 comments:

Luanne G. Smith said...

Well done on the novel progress. I think it's great your daughter is so good at spotting errors. That's a nice convenience to have an in-house editor. :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

You have some smart kids!
So far I've had good experiences with my publisher's editor. Think I've made every change they suggested without protest.

Cherie Reich said...

That's awesome how your kids are a big help with your novel!

Arlee Bird said...

Yes is a great word to hear when submitting to an editor. It's nice that your kids maintain an interest in your work.

Lee

Unknown said...

I like the editing process because it's a chance to learn and discover the awful habits I have (like eyes wandering all over the place LOL). I can never see my own mistakes so you're lucky that your children can.

Laurel Garver said...

I have to say, this post kind of made my day. I work professionally as an editor on a scholarly journal. So much of my work does save professional reputations, but I often feel invisible. The author gets all the kudos, even if their documentation was a jumbled, error-filled mess before I got my hands on it.

So from this editor, THANK YOU. It's nice to know what we do isn't invisible to everyone.

Brinda said...

Keep up the good work with the revisions and the kids!

Angela Brown said...

Your kids do, indeed, rock! Good luck as you continue with your revisions.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Editors are necessary. If we're open to their suggestions, they can make our work so much better.

If I ever do a 'find the typo' contest (as I used to threaten) I'll let your daughter know.

Precy Larkins said...

Smart kid!

Editing and editors are VERY important. Always helps to have extra pairs of eyes to look over a manuscript.

James Anderson said...

It is always good to have an open mind about the suggested changes and qualifiers. I've worked with a few authors that did not want to change anything. Their work was a masterpiece, not to be changed. That always makes the process more difficult. Like everything else, it is really all about compromise.

Karen Lange said...

I've had a little of both from editors. I do like the "yes" much better. :) It is very nice to see a published piece that didn't need any editing at all.

Congrats on your progress on revisions! You are inspiring me yet again!

Unknown said...

Sounds like your revisions are going well and it's great to have little editors on permanent retention. Congrats on your progress! :)

Tara Tyler said...

yay for your smart daughters! and the yes was so big, i thoughtyou got an offer!