So I wrote a post last week about not having ever used an editor. We are about to publish the book grydscaen: dissonance and I am toying with actually getting an editor. Luckily my publisher has editing services so it will not be difficult to find an editor. I was worried about having to find someone in the wild which could be a shady business.

Now I have been through the new book dissonance 3 times already and am getting ready to turn in the manuscript. This is about a 48,000+ word book so that makes it a novel actually. I had to go look that up to see the counts. Rogue which I classified as a short story is actually a novella, so good to hear.

Wikipedia: Word Count In fiction

Novel – 40,000 words
Novella – 17,500 – 40,000 words
Novellete – 7,500 – 17,500 words
Short Story – under 7,500 words

So anyway. I was listening to some podcasts regarding getting your work edited and most of the writers who were being interviewed had editors. I don’t know if I want to pay for an editor at the moment but I am toying around with the idea. I did have that one reviewer say that beginnings needed a good edit and was a “a rough unpolished gem” and then the professional reviewer said on tribute that it could “be superb and easier to read” if it had an editor attached to it and they still gave me a shining review.

So what to do. An edit of dissonance will cost about $1,570.

Will I do it? Won’t I. I don’t know at this point. I am actually getting ready to go to India for work so even though I am starting the book process for dissonance there will be a lag in there for two weeks due to the trip. So this gives me a little time to get an edit done. I would need to get the edit before I turn in the manuscript to be converted into a galley so I don’t have much time to make this decision. What to do.

Maybe I will let dissonance fly and actually look towards the real books in the series to get them edited. I am going back and forth about it. I need more knowledge about editors. I will give my inputs on editing as we write this blog post.

On Editing: Tips

Read it Out Loud – I have not done this but will for dissonance. This is a little awkward but I have heard this a few times as being helpful.

Examine the Big Picture before the Details – Look at the overall plot of the novel before taking in the minor details. If the main story does not flow the little details can bog down the story if you don’t have consistency.

Use the Same Tense in Your Narrative – If you are writing in the past tense or in the present tense like in first person, keep the tense don’t switch it up as that can throw the reader out of the story.

Shorten those Sentences – Remove the semicolons and extra commas. Make the sentances short. If there is a complex sentence that can make the read awkward for a reader, cut it. Go through the manuscript and make the sentances short, split them up and start a new sentence at a comma or semicolon or remove “next,” “suddenly” and “then.”

Rewrite the Passive Voice

• – Use the Active Voice – Be Verbs/No “ing” use “ed” verbs.
• – Example: “He was breaking down the door” instead use “He broke down the door.”
• – Example: “She was wearing the golden necklace” instead use “She wore the golden necklace.”
• – Keep it active. The thing did something, someone did something. Keep the action.

Show versus Tell – I sometimes have a problem with this so I will take this tip to heart.

• – Use feelings, why do  they feel that way
• – Example: “He picked up the gun” is telling, add description and feeling
• – Describe the character’s feeling as they picked up the gun and describe the gun.
• – Create the image. Don’t tell.
• – Example: Don’t tell me the moon is shining, show me the glow on the glinted glass, flush out the scene.
• – Don’t add a ton of description.
• – Use small descriptions and add feeling.
• – Paint the picture.

Point of View (First Person vs Third Person) – don’t jump POV this can throw the reader out of the story.

So these are a few editing tips that you can use when you are editing your first draft. The first draft should be getting the words on the page, don’t focus on editing. When you come back to it for the second draft you can use the tips above to enhance your writing.

I have not decided if I am going to use an editor for dissonance but I am still thinking about it. Since dissonance will be ebook only and available wide, there is an incentive to do it. But I want to think about this from a monetary standpoint and it might be better to focus on the main novels in the series to get an editor. I am still thinking about it. I have not made a decision yet. But we will do it in the future sometime. I just have to be ready.