Editor Support Group

[TJSchongar]

Hi, my name is TJ, and I am an editor.

...Okay, seriously, I wanted to start this thread to talk about something that I've seen people fall into different camps on. Some people hate to edit - period. Some people at least recognize the necessity for it, but aren't fans because they find it tedious or they don't feel they are good at it.

I like to edit. And when I say 'edit,' I mean I like the whole process - revising scenes that aren't working, changing words for tone or meaning, figuring out sentence structure, punctuation - the whole thing. I enjoy doing it to my own work, and I enjoy doing it for other people's work.

So I am curious - anyone else out there who loves to edit? What do you love about it? What are the puzzles and challenges that engage you? What do you find easy about it? Just...come nerd out with me about editing, please. XD

[joannekwan]

I enjoy reworking scenes and dialogue! Particularly if I get a stronger sense of what they should be, I will jab at them excitedly.

Practical edits like punctuation can be a bore, like I have to switch off my creative right brain and switch on my analytical left. But I was surprised to find my current novel is the first one where I'm not bored to tears going through it for proper comma usage and the like.

I'm not about to edit other people's prose work yet though, aside from really obvious practical mistakes. I'm more confident editing comics. But I'm always down to give feedback or critiques if a creator asks.

[vothnthorvaldson]

I loved editing when I was still speaking proper French. (I can't speak any language properly now )

I love the editing part because that's a relatively short process that allows you to make something 'perfect' (or as close as perfection as it can be) from something that has great potential, but is only somewhat good in its current stage. It's very gratifying!

And it worked both for my own works or other people's. It's also very gratifying to see how much we can help a text that is not ours reach a higher quality (although for me it was limited by my abilities as an editor, but I still often felt this feeling of having helped much, especially when editing texts of non-francophone people. I actually did a very little bit of that professionally... Feels like it was another life..)

[TJSchongar]

Professional editing, hm? I've thought about going into that!

[Wumbl]

Editing isn't too bad at all... I like it too.

If anything it's uplifting because my first drafts always have something off about their cadence and polishing them up so they read smoothly just feels good and makes it look more finished.

[Zaboem]

I consider myself an editor firstly and anything else secondarily. When editing the work of other creators, I compare the process to playing with Legos. I do not create the parts but organize them better configurations. When it comes to editing my own text, it's like William Zinser once wrote, "Good literature is not written. It is edited." Every sentence benefits from revision and polish no matter how good it seems initially.

[Greetings]

I like editing! The process is fun, plus I think it helps you learn about all the mistakes you're making here and there, which in turn, makes you a better writer!

[TJSchongar]

That quote is so true! People can write good drafts. They don’t become great without editing, though

[turtleme]

Total respect for those who truly love the process of refinement and take joy and pride in "organizing them into better configurations" as Zaboem put it.

Coming from the viewpoint of a writer, I have to say that editors make such a big difference in quality and consistency. Just by working with editors, I get to know how hard they have it since they not only have to refine and perfect but also keep the author's particular voice.

[borzoiteeth]

I love editing! I loved doing it before I even knew what it was. Discussing with friends how an episode/chapter/etc fell short and how it may have been improved. Some of my favourite "puzzles" is simply trying to solve how to fill plot holes.

However this changes a bit when it comes to personal work. Especially if you are creating something with mysteries in it, being so deep in a project it can be hard to judge if you are properly foreshadowing anything.

Then there are the moments when you realise the very plot ideas that originally fueled the project can't stay in the story anymore. Sometimes you can manage to solve the problem and keep it, but boy it can be disheartening when you have to admit a loved scene just has to go.

[Akhdas]

I'm more happy for people jobs just being editing and not made the whole thing tbh

[faighta]

What a nice thread!

I love editing! but I feel sometimes I get stuck in the editing process so my novels take longer to come through - maybe I'm too harsh with myself or something.

When I read or watch a show, and there were some aspects that I didn't like, I "edit" it and think of ways to make it better from my perspective! C: I think a good editor can do wonders for a story!