An Honest Editor's View
In this article we'll consider:
What's expected from an editor
The role of subjectivity
Finding balance
Editors make mistakes too
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As a fiction writer, you strive to make your work the best it can be. When you've done as much as you can, you hand your manuscript over to your editor in good faith that with their experience, knowledge, fresh eyes, expertise, and not least their fee, they will return your manuscript to you, a shining example of pure fiction-editing perfection.
However, the reality is that no amount of editing can make a book truly perfect, no matter that your editor sweats blood and tears trying to make it so. Here's why:
Subjectivity
No two editors are the same, because fiction editing is not an exact science. What one editor deems as effective writing, another may view as ripe for improvement. What one editor considers a flaw, another may see as a unique style or voice.
Even the normally hard-and-fast fundamentals of grammar and punctuation are open to flexibility when it comes to fiction.
Which is as it should be. Works of fiction, and fiction writers, are the consummate rule-breakers. The stories that really strike a chord with readers, that rattle emotions and leave a soft footprint in people's minds, are not the ones that have come out of a box. They are those where the writers forgot about social graces for a moment and let their imaginations run wild, unhindered, and free.
Thank goodness for those writers!
Hence, since there is no strictly right or wrong way to write fiction (ease away quietly from anyone who says there is), there can be no certain mark of "perfection". What's perfect to one reader is imperfect to another. The same applies to fiction editing and its editors.
Finding balance
An editor doesn't just work with the manuscript at hand, they also work with you, the writer who created it. You have your own particular skill level, strengths, weaknesses, and goals, and your editor must take these into account when deciding how much to intervene and how much to leave alone.
For example, a first-time novelist may not possess the same skills as an established author; but the established author likely has their own weaknesses that frequently recur in their work. In either case, it's up to the editor to decide what the writer expects or needs from them, and therefore how much to deliver.
Perhaps the established author knows what their weaknesses are, but doesn't care to have those aspects of the manuscript changed given that it works for them and their readers haven't complained. For the new novel writer, they're likely to be put out if the manuscript returned to them has been overly edited to the point it's a shadow of its former self.
Therefore, your editor must find the balance between what's valuable and what's detrimental; what serves both the writer and the work, according to their level of writing and their goals. And that varies according to each project.
Human error
Editors, like writers, are human and make mistakes. It doesn't sit well with them, they'll do anything to avoid it, but given time constraints and the mentally taxing scope of editing a novel-length manuscript, errors can still slip through the cracks.
It's rare to read a traditionally published novel and not find at least one mistake somewhere among its pages, despite the many eyes that will have passed over it during the production stages - often multiple editors and a proofreader, over many months. It's an excruciatingly uncomfortable fact of any editor's life, freelance or otherwise.
To be clear, the editor will certainly strive to do their very best for you and your manuscript - their reputation, satisfaction, and long-term career depends on providing you with a job well done. But they'll know, with a shadow of dread in their hearts as they hand the manuscript back to you, that they are unlikely to have attained that impossible goal of perfection.
Finally...
Don't lose faith. When you've found an editor that's a good fit for you and your writing, someone who understands your work and your goals and can provide the value you're looking for, your manuscript will benefit exponentially from collaborating with them, as will you as a writer. Your editor is firmly on your side, and working together can give you the step up in skills, confidence, and motivation you've been hoping for.
However, it's essential to bear in mind that the idea of perfection is an unachievable ideal, as much for editors as it is for writers. Instead, let go of the concept of flawlessness, and work with your editor to create what matters most - authentic and engaging storytelling your readers will love so much they'll forgive you a wayward typo or two.
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Tina Williams of Fiction Yogi is a copyeditor and proofreader who works with writers at all stages, giving them the tools to improve their manuscript and level up their writing so they can meet their publishing goals.
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