Nontoxic Editing

The other day, I encountered a Washington Post headline that read, “These editor’s notes are poison. I learned from every drop.”

I didn’t click the link because I don’t want to read about how writers should learn to appreciate abuse. And I’m not onboard with idolizing abusers.

Every now and then you hear these stories about how “My editor made me cry but the experience made my writing stronger!”

The editor involved is usually some gatekeeper editor at a publishing company, and the author is just so relieved to have a book contract that they’ll basically put up with anything to avoid jeopardizing their dream.

Editing without Harming

Here’s the thing: a writer can improve their writing without being made to cry. Without being abused. Without being belittled.

Now, if you’ve been an editor for any length of time, you’ve likely encountered that writer who takes your note “Consider trimming back the exposition in the first chapter” as a personal attack on their soul, but I’m not talking about that.

I’m talking about editors who are mean-spirited and unkind in their editing, using derogatory language and attacking the writer’s skill in an attempt to prove that they, the editor, know what they are doing whereas the writer obviously does not.

Don’t be that editor.

Add a Layer of Review

One of the most important things I do in any edit is leave time for a review session. After I complete my edit (the edited manuscript with line edits and editorial queries along with the revision letter), I set it aside for at least one day, and usually two or three.

Then I return to it with my diplomatic eye. Are any of the queries unnecessarily brusque or stated in unkind ways (“your main character is such a whiner”)? If so, I find a more neutral way to rephrase (“your character complains a lot, which makes him less interesting for readers to engage with”).

I also look for queries that are unclearly stated or that, on consideration, I don’t even need to include. Then, more confident that my edit is professional and supportive, I send it along to the author.

Developmental editing in particular can stir up frustration in the editor (“why does the AU keep doing that obnoxious thing!!!”) but we can’t let that frustration show. Taking a step back and putting space between the edit itself and the review can help keep you from becoming that editor.