I recently had the pleasure of working with an editor on my latest project, Arctic Discovery. I’ve worked with a friend before, who is an awesome editor, but when I got the opportunity to work with someone that I didn’t know, I decided that it might be good to get an unbiased opinion.
I was on pins and needles as I awaited the first set of notes. What would she think? How bad would it be? Would I get ripped to shreds? I was pleasantly surprised. C. E. Chapman was gentle in her corrections, and I found her notes to be extremely helpful. Her insight went past a mere line edit, and she brought questions to some of my decisions that I hadn’t considered.
For instance, she questioned how flippantly my main characters handled the artifacts recovered from the frozen tower. I simply assumed that the ice had perfectly preserved everything, but her question brought clarity. My main characters are scientists who are used to working with ancient and therefore fragile items. They would not assume they could handle anything. It was an aspect of my characters that I had never considered, but it made a lot of sense. I believe that by making their reactions more believable, my story became stronger.
She also brought an edge of fun to her proofing marks. For instance, my overuse of the word ‘giggle’ got a couple of comments, and they got more entertaining each time. It’s easy as a writer to overlook redundancies in your writing that can become irksome to a reader. I actually had a good laugh over her comments, and found a few places where I could insert synonyms that worked just as well, if not better.
Finally – and this was my favorite part – she highlighted the parts that she loved. An exceptional description, a point in the plot that was heartbreaking or exciting – the list goes on. These comments left me hungry for more. What edits would I get next? What would she like? What needed tweaking?
If you’re thinking of writing a book, make sure you budget for an editor. They can help you strengthen your writing to help keep your readers engaged. They can bring to light plot holes and flaws in your logic that you can’t see on your own. Just make sure you get a great editor, like C. E. Chapman.
The most exciting part? Now I have a spot on her site! You can see my testimonial by clicking here. And if you have a minute, take the time to read her bio. It just serves to make her all the more awesome.
