Purposeful Prose Advice Column: Not Enough Red Tape

Dear Purposeful Prose, 

I need another editor’s opinion. My editor returned her edits on my memoir last week, and it was nothing like what I had expected. I thought editors were supposed to mark things up and give lots of comments. While she did that, it was nowhere near the number of comments I was expecting. Some full paragraphs remained untouched. I sent the editor an email asking about this, and she said that my writing was, overall, very good and there weren’t many necessary changes that needed to be made. Is this normal? I’ve never worked with an editor before. 

Dear Author, 

From what I can tell, you seemed to have prepared for an experience with an editor that you didn’t receive. I can’t tell you whether your edit was negligent. I haven’t seen it. I’m also not clear as to whether you agree with the edits that were provided. 

I’m going to assume the best from your editor for the purposes of my response to you, and if that is not the case, please reach out to me again. I can look over the edits you received and give some feedback. 

A lot of people who have not worked with an editor, or the editor who best fits them, might assume a lot of things. They might assume that the editor will overtake the writer’s voice. They might also assume that the editor will drown their manuscript in redline and comments necessitating a full book rewrite. Some even assume an editor will perform said rewrite. 

A good editor’s job is to work in communication with the writer’s voice and vision, amplifying the text to meet the writer’s goals. If you take nothing else from what I’ve written today, take that. 

When I receive a text to be published or am expecting one, I do market research on similar books. I also want to know what literary agents are expecting of specific types of books and what today’s readers are latching on to. Other editor colleagues of mine do the same because they want to prepare your text for success. 

More simply, my first piece of advice to you is to try and figure out where your editor’s information and feedback came from even if you fully agree with her suggestions. Why did your editor make the comments that they did? This information can help you gauge how thoughtful your editor was throughout the process. 

Next, I’m going to tell you about a mistake that both rookie and seasoned editors can make. Sometimes, if a manuscript appears lacking in areas that need fixing, we try to look for problems that aren’t there. Editors are often expected to be gatekeepers who need to mark a manuscript down to its bare bones, but that mindset doesn’t do anything to elevate your writing and it doesn’t make us good advocates for you.

All writing can be elevated and improved. If we don’t make an effort to improve, we plateau. At the same time, it’s possible to reach a point where a draft is in a constant state of revision. So, as editors, what we need to focus on is getting your piece publisher-ready. 

To strike a balance, if there are points in your writing that you are concerned about, prepare a list or some kind of document that addresses those concerns. This way, your editor will be better equipped to give you the tools you need. At this point, if you have concerns unrelated to your editor’s feedback, I recommend letting her know. 

Every edited manuscript is going to look different, and there is no real “norm”. Again, the aim of a good editor is to work in communication with the writer’s voice and vision. So, make sure that you received that from your editor. 

Do you have a question that you’d like answered by the Purposeful Prose Advice Column? Contact us! Not all responses will warrant a post, but we are happy to help.

All submissions will remain anonymous unless you explicitly request for me to include your name.