I’m learning to trust my instincts. I still have a long way to go. You know that feeling you get in your stomach when you’re not sure about something? When something’s just not right? That’s the feeling I had regarding the editor that I hired to edit my novella two years ago. Something told me I should hold off on her, but I had so many other things to consider, like the fact that my money was low, I didn’t have much time, not to mention, a lot of other editors I was interested in had already rejected me. My confidence was down and I became desperate. In the future – and the present for that matter – I hope to try my best to never make decisions from a desperate place again. But back in February of 2024, I felt desperate, with my back against the wall, and so I hired her.
Hey, you live and you learn, so I learned. What should have clued me in…well, I’m being too hard on myself when I say that. Nothing could’ve clued me in – I’m new to this. How would I know? But looking back, perhaps the tell-tell sign was that she was British and her profile said she was well-versed in British, American and Australian English. Something told me then, very faintly, that’s too many Englishs for her to master.
Right there, I was skeptical, but again, also desperate. In the back of my mind I was starting to think maybe my story isn’t as good as I think it is. Who am I to be so picky when choosing an editor? Plus, I rationalized, if her sample edit was good, how bad could she be? Hers was one of the better sample edits I received – very thorough, seemingly not half-assed at all. To top it all off, she was also very professional in the way she addressed me. She addressed me respectfully, like she wanted the job, while some of the editors addressed me like they would be doing me a favor. And so, even though I had my doubts, I just chalked it up to fear and settled.
Now that I think about it, have I ever had doubts about something that later turned out to be wrong? Have you? Perhaps I have and just can’t recall an instance right now.
But anyway, ultimately it was a good thing I proceeded with her because it was a lesson learned. And not just any lesson learned, but a lesson learned at an early stage. Even though it ended up costing me hundreds of dollars, it has the potential of saving me much more down the line.
Nothing against the Brits, but when it comes to the nuances of American language and all the colloquialisms and slang that are associated with certain groups of people based on culture, the region they live in, class and such, it would be really hard for someone who isn’t acutely familiar with that to critique and edit a work that contains those things. So yeah, that was my bad.
When I got the comments from her first pass, it was almost instant regret. I felt too many of her critiques were on subjective things like my style rather more concrete things like someone wearing a red shirt that’s later referenced as green without indicating the character changed clothes. You know, stuff like that. But she was making changes – more than I cared for – based on her preference rather than an actual need.
I also think the story may have been too complicated for her. She’s primarily a fantasy editor, and while my story is fantasy, it’s more literary-fantasy than straight-up fantasy. I didn’t realize it until I did more research after I hired her that I should have gone with an editor who specializes in literary fiction rather than fantasy. I think the literary aspect of my novella tripped her up. She kept using her edits to try and fit the story into the rules and expectations of a traditional fantasy framework and its readers when that’s not my book’s genre or purpose for that matter. Not to mention, she loved inserting the word “had” everywhere.
But as the saying goes, even a broken clock is correct twice a day. Two years ago, when I was reviewing her edits for the first time, I was critical as fuck of her work to the point that it took me forever just to review 16 pages. This time around, instead of rejecting her corrections just because she made them, I’ve had to learn to look past my bias and honestly assess if there is any validity to them. And that was before I started using ChatGPT, so I was googling everything. ChatGPT has made it so much easier – so much faster. After spending about five hours or so, I’m already on page 40.
Oh, another thing I wanted to mention was that I didn’t realize that I would get so offended by her edits. I kinda pride myself on being able to take criticism. I guess I associated being able to take criticism well with not being hurt or offended by something that typically hurts or offends. But now I’m reminding myself that I can take criticism well and still be hurt and offended as long as I don’t act on it. Hurt and offense are natural emotions. As long as I keep them in their proper place, as long as I don’t allow them to influence me to make decisions that are not in my best interest, it’s okay. I have been hurt and offended by some of her edits and still realized that it would be in my best interest to make her suggested change.
So that’s where I am now. I’m giving myself until Saturday, February 21st to finish editing my novella. Then I’m going to start looking for editors again – ugh, that’s the scary part. I’m still saving up for one. But I just want to get a heads up on who these people are, how far in advance I’ll need to secure a spot on their calendar…you know, stuff like that. In the meantime, happy writing, happy reading, just happy.
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