Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today: Shannon Lawrence, Diedre Knight, Liza, and Pat Garcia!
August 5 question - As a writer/author what is something you regret? Or something that you wish you'd done differently in your writing process?
When I was editing Fractions of Existence, I paid a professional editor hundreds of dollars. Many of the editing suggestions were incorrect. (One scene, which I ended up deleting, the primary item used in the scene, she said didn't exist and couldn't exist. Except it actually does. It's for sale at multiple sporting goods stores near me. So the scene was plausible. Whatever, I prefer the rewrite, so it all turned out well enough in the end.)
The lesson, I suppose, is to trust yourself and your training.
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📚💙 — J (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZChallenge
https://bsky.app/profile/jlennidorner.bsky.social My current favorite social media site.
https://amzn.to/41QBB4P Author page on Amazon — please consider following and supporting this indie author!https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-lenni-dorner I'm grateful for follows! https://www.goodreads.com/j_lenni_dorner
#AtoZChallenge a-to-zchallenge.com Kindly check out the blog hop's website. Watch for special features!
Always trust your gut!
ReplyDeleteThat editor needed to do her research.
ReplyDeleteAnonymously Esther O'Neill, East of the Sun
ReplyDeleteEnd of our no signal 0 G existence might be in sight.
Regret ? One potential agent called me to explain how long it miight take her to knock my hopelessly bad writing into some kind of shape. Promised that one day I'd thank her.
esther.oneill@protonmail.com
ReplyDeleteWe definitely have to pick and choose how to use/respond to the feedback we get, whether we've paid for it or not. But it would be nice to be sure somehow that the editor you are hiring is the right one for your work.
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard to know who to trust. So sorry you had that bad experience. For me, I use my critique groups as my main guides, then I go over that manuscript with my very well-used teacher's red pen in hand. My publishers so far have supplied me with some excellent editors, so that's my last go-around.
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad you had such a bad experience with the editor you hired to help you.
ReplyDeleteNot everyone in this business can be trusted. I've heard a few horror stories about "editors" who really shouldn't be editors.
ReplyDeleteUgh. That's an awful experience. Unprofessional and (intentionally?) uninformed. Glad things worked out as well as they did though.
ReplyDeleteTrusting yourself is a good idea. Feedback can be great, but it's not the be all and end all.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they didn't have access to Google? Yeah, so many people out to scam authors out of their money out there...
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely trust yourself, but also develop trusted partners. Perhaps it helps to vet who you are asking to edit your work by getting references references?
ReplyDeleteSucks to spend and not get value on return.
ReplyDeleteMy first (and so far, only) experience with an editor was also disappointing. She was helpful but not helpful enough, because she was too complimentary. My book still needed a lot of work, and I don't want to spend another couple thousand on another edit.
ReplyDeleteThe next time I hire an editor, I'm going to insist on someone who has recent industry experience, even if they cost a lot more.