So you want/need to work with an editor?
Writing and editing are inseparable endeavors. As much as we all wish our first drafts were our best work, they’re usually not. Even our second and third drafts can miss the mark. We can self-edit ad infinitum; we can stalk critique groups; we can beg our besties to read our manuscripts and tell us what they think. Ultimately, though, many writers decide it’s time to hire a professional.
Enter the independent editor.
Finding your ideal editor
An editor’s primary job is to make your words shine and to make you even more brilliantly you on the page. (An editor who wants to steal the spotlight would be better off writing, not editing.) In addition to finessing your prose, your ideal editor will also be your cheerleader. That’s not to say that editors should be “yes-people” – quite the contrary. Editors are paid to be nitpicky and corrective. But you’ll want to find an editor who resonates with your work and voice and who shares your passion about your project. Someone who gets you, who polishes your words because of a drive to help you put your best ideas forward. It’s quite possible that your editor will be the first person aside from you to lay eyeballs on your writing, and that can be a scary thing. (Or exhilarating.) Sharing your work with the intent of receiving sometimes-hard-to-hear feedback is an intimate proposition, and both trust and mutual interest are paramount.
With all of this
