Halloween is a very good time to address this question, with ghouls, spooks and creepy things on people’s minds!
If you see an editor who says they love massacring your writing, you might want to think twice about hiring them.
This is a massive misconception of what editors do: that we always insist authors slash their text.
Worse still, that we just go in and do it ourselves without any care for your precious work – butchering it horribly in the process…
I don’t believe in taking this approach, and it’s definitely not how I work with authors.
It’s neither productive, sensitive nor, frankly, kind.
There’s a well-known saying in editorial circles that sometimes, we have to issue hard truths in the service of making a book the very best it can be.
And sometimes, granted, that feedback isn’t always terribly easy to receive at first.
As a writer, you’re extremely close to your work, invested in it – which is totally understandable.
It’s come from your self and source, and deeply personal.
Sure, on getting that script report, you might want to step away from your keyboard and have a bit of a stomp outside!
But from good editors, feedback is always delivered constructively – and with the best intentions.
It’s balanced, recognising the terrific things about your writing too. The rest is simply a case of what might need to be worked on, or perhaps adjusted.
That doesn’t mean it’s bad, or ripe for Spanish Inquisition.
And what an editor recommends to authors is only ever a suggestion, never a diktat.
This is your work, and good editors respect that.
So, if any editor is giving off ‘grim reaper’ vibes and wants to take a scythe to your writing… you might want to give them a swerve.
There’s a big difference between killing your darlings and your entire book.
Good editors want to keep your writing very much alive and kicking in this world!
