I’m sure the idea of working with an editor on your baby is a bit daunting. You don’t want to hand your precious art to someone and let them rip it apart with their jagged teeth. But don’t worry, it’s not that bad. I promise.
I’ll give you a little insight into how I work, maybe that will put you at ease.
The First Read Through
Once your manuscript has passed through acquisitions and is finally assigned to me, I’ll take it on my e-reader and do a complete read through for the overall concept, getting a taste. I’ll write notes as I go and then pass on a letter to you. During this read, I’m contemplating character arc, timeline and pacing, and the big picture. I like to gnaw on the thing as a whole before I start to digest. We’ll delve into the little stuff later.
The Second Edit
This time around, after I’ve received your updates from the first read through, I’ll go through with a fine tooth comb and rip to shreds…sorry, I mean carefully fine tune your work. This means I look at the arc in each scene as well as spelling and grammar mistakes as I go. This is when it gets bloody. We might need to cut a character or change who they are. I particularly enjoy when I get to delete line after line after…I’m sorry, where was I?
The Final Read
This third time, after we have carefully polished your manuscript, I’m pretty much just checking the changes you made after the second edit. Then I’ll send it off to copy editing, who will proofread it. See? Not that bad after all. *licks blood from her fingers*
About Amie McCracken:
I’m a voracious reader. My calling in life is editing. I’m ambitious and strong, but shy and like to sit in the background. I live in Germany with my husband, camera, computer, and a lot of ideas floating around in my head. They tend to take over (the ideas), and most of the time you’ll catch me staring off into space.
I like to capture moments, whether with writing or my camera. Moments in people’s lives that are painful, exhilarating, dull, perfect, teary, basically anything.
Amie blogs at I Am Alive
Amie- You make it sound simple. 🙂 Thanks for posting this fun little tidbit about how you work. Great post.
It’s nice to ‘meet’ a fellow editor.
Summer, wish it was simple. But it’s fun to make it sound that way. 😉
Nice to ‘meet’ you too!
Amie is wonderful! We are in round two together and I’ve loved every minute of working with her. Her insights have really helped me deepen the story in ways I never thought possible. My story now makes me giddy with joy.
Thank you Amie!
Sounds exciting!