There are a lot of rules for good writing, and good editors know all of those rules. Editors take writing and editing classes, read books, and go to conferences to help them better understand how to create a good book.
If you want to produce a great book, however, you need a great editor, and great editors know when and why to break the rules. There aren’t a lot of classes that teach you how to do that, though, so exactly how does an editor hone those rule-breaking skills?
By reading.
The word “editor” elicits a strong response—whether positive or negative—from most authors.
Likewise, good or bad experiences working with certain authors stick with editors for years.
Those of us who have worked on both sides of that equation gain a unique perspective. From day one, the editor can take steps to strengthen his or her relationship with the author. In fact, what a great opportunity to employ a Christ-like model.
Mark 10:45a: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”
A Dozen Do-s for Editors who want to be that servant leader:
Past betrayal has turned John Kliest’s passion to his work as a builder and surveyor in the Moravian town of Salem, North Carolina. Now, to satisfy the elders’ edict and fulfill his mission in Cherokee Territory, he needs a bride. But the one woman qualified to record the Cherokee language longs for a future with his younger brother.
Clarissa Vogler’s dream of a life with Daniel Kliest is shattered when she is chosen by lot to marry his older brother and venture into the uncharted frontier. Can she learn to love this stoic man who is now her husband? Her survival hinges on being able to trust him—but they both harbor secrets.
The tragic death of Shelby Dodson’s husband—her partner in a successful Home Network house flipping business—stole love, status, and career. Now a bungalow redesign thrusts Shelby into the company of a new contractor. Scott Matthews remembers high-and-mighty Shelby from high school, and her prissy, contemporary style goes against his down-to-earth grain. When the house reveals a mystery, will its dark secrets—and their own mistakes—cost a second chance at love?
A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses!
Represented by Hartline Literary Agency, Denise Weimer holds a journalism degree with a minor in history from Asbury University. She’s a managing editor for Smitten Historical Romance and Heritage Beacon Historical Fiction imprints of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas and the author of The Georgia Gold Series, The Restoration Trilogy, and a number of novellas, including Across Three Autumns of Barbour’s Colonial Backcountry Brides Collection. Her contemporary romance, Fall Flip, and a historical, The Witness Tree both release September 2019 with LPC.
What is Proofreading?
Proofreading is usually the last step in the publishing process. It is the final analysis of the visual and content levels of a document after it has evolved from various cycles of revision and has been finalized by a content editor. By the time a document reaches the proofreader, corrections of sentencing and word usage have already been addressed. Having gone through a thorough review to tidy up text via a focus on style, content, punctuation, grammar and consistency of usage via copyediting, proofreading is the final polish that ensures that the document is finally ready for publishing.
Though proofreading reflects no real editorial authority, proofreaders mark-up documents for typesetters, editors, and authors to reference for additional changes. In addition to immediate errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation and other language misuse, proofreading includes a final check to ensure all elements of the document are included and in proper order, all amendments have been inserted, and that the house/style guide has been followed.
Get the Skills
What do publishers look for in a top-notch proofreader? Below are a few frequently noted skills to cultivate:
Hard Skills
Soft Skills
How Do I Know I’m Good?
Want to test your current level of proofreading acumen? Most publishers will extend a proofreading and or copyediting test within their new hire/candidate review process. Some will assign a proofreading project as a task to entry-level new hires to ensure fundamental editing skills are in place. If you want to get an idea of what this testing may entail, here’s a 20-question online proofreading test from UK-based Society for Editors and Proofreaders.
Carol Saller, the author of The Subversive Copy Editor and contributing editor to The Chicago Manual of Style blogs about “the second-most common* fatal error that candidates make” when taking the test her office administers when hiring at the entry level. She notes that, “…the fatal error candidates make on the test: that is, their failure to understand the concept of proofreading.” Wannabe Editors: Can You Pass a Proofreading Test?
How to Get Trained
The PEN Institute has group courses and lesson packs that cover the how to of proofreading and how to provide serves as a freelancer as well. Below are the 2019 group course offerings. Each group course has a corresponding lesson pack. lesson packs include the same lesson materials as the group courses but are self-guided without the online discussion or instructor feedback.
Since finding The Christian PEN during a prayerful search in 2015, Sharon Ford has been more than blessed by the wisdom, camaraderie and opportunities she’s found with her PEN family. When she joined, she jumped at the chance to volunteer and support this new found oasis in hopes that she’d learn and grow in preparation for a long mulled over career change. After many classes and months of support from the PEN and PEN Institute courses, she launched her freelance business, Tidy Up Content Services, late 2018!
My younger sister is a teacher. She often gives directions, then has to repeat them, then has to explain them (as high school students aren’t necessarily known for their listening skills). Because of that, she’s gotten into the habit of repeating and overexplaining things when she talks to her family and friends. It’s not uncommon to hear something like this:
We need to leave the house by three so we don’t get stuck in rush hour traffic. Rush hour is usually between four and six, and that’s when traffic is the heaviest because everyone gets out of work at the same time. It can take twice as long to drive through rush hour, so we need to leave the house by three.
That kind of over explanation works in small doses, but even those of us who know her well have to occasionally remind her that we don’t need step-by-step instructions for everything. People who don’t know her can feel insulted by the repetitiveness (as if she thinks they aren’t smart enough to understand what she’s talking about).
What does this have to do with novel writing? Everything!
Why? Because new authors tend to overexplain and repeat everything to make sure the reader knows what’s going on. Instead of making things clear, however, the readers (like people who don’t know my sister) often feel insulted (and bored) as they reread the same information over and over again.
How do you make sure you’re not overexplaining (and insulting your reader)? Here are two ways you can trust your reader more:
Start looking for and keeping track of these things (e.g. how many times do you mention your characters’ ages?) and you’ll not only tighten your writing, you’ll keep the reader engaged and wanting more.
Whether we read a novel just to kick back and relax or to jump into an exciting adventure, we enter one or possibly more new worlds.
Fiction’s power comes from its ability to draw a reader into a world view—a set of beliefs, ideas, and attitudes about the world, ourselves, and others. It can impart both truth and deception, so as Christians, it’s vital to discern what we’re reading and, as writers, what we’re writing. Understanding and utilizing world views can help us to do both.
World views appear in themes of truth and deception, love and hate, good and evil, unity and brokenness, and more. The realities of those world views play out through plots, characters, action, dialogue, atmosphere, and other fictional elements.
A biblical world view discerns good from evil, truth from falsehood. The Apostle Paul tells us to take every thought captive to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5), and Romans 12:2 exhorts us to mature in discernment through God’s Word. Comparing world views that we encounter with the Bible, helps us to do this.
What worlds entice you when you read? And what worlds do you create for your readers?
Following are four influential world view areas operating in our culture today. Can you spot their spiritual realities in fictional landscapes? Do they shape any world views you encounter or want to write about? Studying world views will help you understand how they conflict, combine and communicate their message to others.
Want to create a riveting story? Utilize world views to increase conflict, reveal character, and create atmosphere. Here’s an example. Can you spot the world views operating in this vignette?
Judy McGrath stirred her coffee and stared out the window at the veil of fog shrouding the garden. She shivered. It reminded her of the veil she felt over her marriage—a cold, distant, and alien fog. Once again, John was off managing the high-tech company he loved—and once again she was alone.
Alone.
And childless.
“Children are counterproductive to a green Earth,” he’d insisted. “Our planet’s already overpopulated.”
“But John, don’t you want family?” she’d protested.
“Nonsense. We have to separate human sexuality from human reproduction or earth will be doomed.” He’d hurried away, scowling.
Judy wiped a tear and stirred her coffee, then wiped away another tear. Finally, she gave up and reached for the box of tissues.
The ability to identify world views can sharpen our awareness of the world around us, enrich our stories, and protect us and our readers from deception. To identify world views as you read and write fiction, ask yourself:
In summary, learning about world views can help us to:
* * *
We’ve taken on the challenge of writing about radically conflicting world views in our new thriller, The Glittering Web, coming this April 22 through Redemption Press.
Based on the true story of our rescue by Jesus Christ, our fast-paced novel plunges the reader into deep struggles involved with escaping Satan’s kingdom and clearly distinguishes the conflict between the kingdoms of light and of darkness.
Linda Nathan has 27 years of experience as a professional freelance writer, editor, and consultant for authors and institutions through her business, Logos Word Designs, LLC. She is a staff freelance editor with Redemption Press and a gold member of the Christian Editor Connection. Linda has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Oregon and master’s level work, as well as 10 years of experience in the legal field. She has helped numerous authors attain publication and in several instances achieve industry awards.
The book:
http://www.theglitteringweb.com
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authors@theglitteringweb.com
Logos Word Designs, LLC
http://www.logosword.com
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editor@logosword.com
Editor. Teacher. Novelist.
A passionate lover of fiction, Karin doesn't just write novels, she helps others write their best stories! A certified substantive editor with the Christian Editor Connection, her goal is to help authors to put her out of business by equipping them with the tools they need to become better writers.
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Lover of all things fiction, I also love University of Michigan football, the Detroit Lions, Tigers, and Red Wings, kayaking, gluten-free cupcakes, and my husband.
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