Rescue Breathing: Mouth to Mouth With a Red Pen

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"Editing is like killing your story and then very slowly bringing it back to life." ~www.jeanoram.com

"She hates it," I sobbed, plopping into a chair on the back deck after reading the email and crying to my husband about my Editor's newest batch of criticisms! "I don't know what the hell she wants from me. She keeps saying, 'Show me, don't tell me' and I already feel like there's too much waste in the story," I complained. "That's because you already know this story, these people inside out, and upside down. To you it's clear. To your readers, not so much," he offered gently. I sighed. He and my Editor were right. I am a master at saying in one page what it would take most people ten to write, a skill set I learned from some very good professors who taught me the art of trimming the fat off my work. This is great in an academic setting, but not good when it comes to writing novels. It is, in fact, my biggest hurdle. I see the story clearly in my mind but struggle with how much details to share with the reader lest I end up talking for five pages about a pen on the desk. It really irks me when authors do that. Without my Editor, I couldn't have gotten to the final, polished piece of work that ended up being my first novel. Her advice was clear, helpful, and added richness to the story that would have been absent otherwise.

My third piece of advice for all you would-be writers out there is once you've given birth to the story you've been dying to tell, hire a professional editor to help you with your mistakes. I'm not talking about your neighbor next door, or your buddy Bob. Hire a true professional. They are expensive, but worth it. I've been writing a long time, have my Master's degree in English, and have taught students from forth grade to college level how to write, and I'm still not qualified to be my own editor. Catching other people's mistakes? Easy for me. Catching my own? Not so much. When I write the weekly blog articles, I edit them several times (including reading them out loud to myself for my final check), and still occasionally find mistakes.

The problem with editing yourself is that you know what you meant to say, so often you read your work as it ought to be. Unfortunately, what you ought to have written doesn't always coincide with what ends up on the page. Having a professional edit your work also gives you a fresh set of eyes attached to someone who isn't emotionally invested in your work. Professionals get paid for doing a good job, not making you feel good about whatever you've written. This means they'll be brutally honest. You need that, trust me. Brace yourself in advance, because their feedback is often not easy to hear (...per my incident up top). I lost count of the number of times my Editor made me cry while writing Desperate Measures. By the time I got to the end of that project, however, I'd developed much thicker skin. Honestly, at the end of the day the only person that must be proud of your work is you! Sure, you hope others will like it, or get something useful out of it, even if that something is merely enjoyment. Having others like your work, however, should not be your end goal. Your end goal should be in the telling...a story...your story...in a way that is clear, honest, and meaningful to you. Pay an editor to polish your story so that your shine comes sparkling through.