Choices A Fiction Editor Needs To Make

I recently spoke with a woman in Toronto who had written a book and was looking to publish it. She was caught up in the old Catch22 that the fiction editor and the writer face together--how much should be changed to make the manuscript commercial enough for sale? I've heard stories about publishers wanting major rewrites ( 10,000 words or better) and people getting caught up in that machine.

So here's a little advice. Keep an open mind and look at all the suggestions an editor makes but make the final decisions yourself. Remember the best fiction editor will always be looking to make your book the best it can be and that should mean listening to your vision as well as having an eye to commercial value.

Freelance Content Writing Sharpens Editing Talents

When you work on the Internet as a content writer doubling as a fiction editor,one necessarily feeds off the other. For example, the content writer side of what I do demands that I find ways to say things in smaller spaces and that helps me to look for ways to edit books down at the same time.

Content Writing

The reason the two disciplines work well together is simple. Both seo content writing and fiction editing arrive at the same point from different ends. All content writing jobs require that you 'edit' your thoughts before you write them and the editing work requires that you polish the words after they've been put down on the page.

Less Is More For Editors and Content Writers

Although you'd never know it by some of the excesses in print, in almost all forms of good writing less is more. That goes for both fiction editors, content writers and almost anyone else who uses the written word.

A Matter Of Focus

For the content writer, it's a matter of focus. You need to find new ways of saying things with as few words as possible. For the fiction editor,it's generally an exercise in sharpening the tools that you know you already use.

Thinking

Either way you approach the Less Is More rule, it's always a good idea to make sure that you revisit the skills that you've developed often, regardless of whether you see yourself as a content writer or fiction editor. Keep the thinking sharp and the writing or editing will follow.

One of the Mistakes A Fiction Editor Should Catch

Over the years that I've been a fiction editor, I've noticed several mistakes that keep happening with authors who are starting out in their careers. The first is the use of the 'ly' modifier. More often than not, the 'ly' modifier is nothing more than lazy writing, a quick way of writing something that requires little effort. Consider this example.

"Johnny was seriously mad."

The modifier 'seriously' tells the reader about Johnny's emotional state, but it's always much better to show that same reader what mad looks like.
So, the sentence is vastly improved with a rewrite that goes like,

"Johnny's fists were curled at his sides."

The exact wording is up to the writer, but any good fiction editor will pick up on the difference.