Editing: It's Important.

I've had this post sitting in my drafts for months. It's taken me a while to sort out my thoughts coherently enough to write a post I'm satisfied with. Also, I forgot it was in my drafts. Mostly that second one.

But here goes:

The other day (and by the other day, I mean several months ago), while browsing Pinterest, I saw this pin a fellow writer had shared. It was a graphic that read, "Give up on perfection. As an author, your job is to write as much as possible. Turn over responsibility of polishing and perfecting to an editor."

I read it again to make sure I hadn't made a mistake, and sure enough this writer had shared advice that instructs writers to ignore editing and polishing, because apparently that's not what writers do.

That is, to put it bluntly, complete and utter bullshit.

I can get behind the sentiment of not breaking yourself trying to achieve perfection, but it bugs me so much when I see writers talking about how they don't need to develop their skills as editors. I have read books by authors who didn't put in any effort to get rid of typos. I have read books that read like first drafts. It is my policy to never give a review that boils down to, "that book was just total crap." Yet I have read some books that really were. The one thing that those books have in common? Poor editing.

But let me be clear, here: editing isn't just going back and fixing typos. Inconsistent characterization, poor continuity, choppy flow, and gaps in logic? You fix those with good revision and editing. It's rare to crap out a first draft that needs no work. I'm sure somebody's done it, but it's my firm opinion that nobody should ever go into writing thinking, "my work ends when I write 'the end.'"

Develop skills as an editor. Learn how to polish your own work. Get help from beta readers and critique buddies. Don't ever, ever, let yourself fall into the trap of, "it's not my job to edit my book." If there's one thing I've learned from reading blog posts from agents and editors and publishers, it's that their job is to help you give your book its final shine before sending it out into the world to flourish. It's not their job to polish a turd.

Don't shoot yourself in the foot because you think it's not your job to make your book the best it can be.

'Til next time,
J.