How to make an editor happy
We editors get a bad rap. We appear as nothing but a series of crossings out, rewrites, annoying demands (please review), irritating questions (please clarify) and suggestions for changes that, at first glance, look very similar to what was there in the first place. It’s no wonder you might think of us as grumpy pedants whose only joy in life is finding and correcting other people’s mistakes.
It’s true that nothing makes us happier than finding an error that’s slipped past 4 automated writing programs and 7 real sets of eyes. But that’s not because we love correcting people. It’s because we find joy in helping create work that is clear, correct and compelling. The more we can contribute, the happier we are.
Engaging an editor
We want to understand your work so we can help to make it better – so one of the best ways you can make an editor happy is by talking to us. Tell us what you want, in terrible detail. Flag the specific words, sentences, passages, issues or areas you’re struggling with – we understand that editing your own writing is hard. Ask for our opinion and help. We love to talk about writing, and we’ll try not to be boring about it.
Sending the document
When you’re ready to send a document, here are some things you can do to really put a smile on your editor’s face.
Keep your sentences simple. We can spin your writing into gold, but not if we don’t know what you want to say. As a starting point, we will always prefer plain but clear writing to a complicated conglomeration of ideas whose meaning is difficult to discern.
Don’t lose yourself in tricky formatting. It’s better to just tell us what you want than try to make it look a certain way if you don’t really know how. (If you’re ever hitting the return key or the space bar more than twice to get things where you want them, you should probably stop.)
List everything. With references, it’s much easier for us to check and edit them into shape if we can access the information quickly.
Receiving feedback
Prepare yourself for a returned piece of writing with many more suggestions and corrections than you were expecting. It’s our job to know the rules, conventions, differences between US, British and Australian spellings and definitions, and the latest updates of the Australian Government Style Manual. We’ll probably find things that you (justifiably!) didn’t know about or didn’t have time to check. Trust us, we care about these things so you don’t have to.
A good relationship between client and editor can make the process more enjoyable for everyone. A happy editor will help you produce brilliant written work – and that, in turn, will make everyone happy.
