Many aspiring authors think they can’t afford to hire an editor. If your plan is to publish, then the truth is you can’t afford NOT to hire one. Anyone can call themselves an “editor,” yet not all editors are the same. There is no test or certification process. Be choosy when you hire one. Instead of looking for the cheapest rate, look for editors with experience and a proven track record and figure out how you can reduce your costs by doing as much self-editing as possible. While inexpensive, the retired English teacher down the street is not a professional editor. Proofreaders are not editors. They check for typographical errors, missing words, formatting glitches. You will want to use a proofreader, but only when you have “proofs” ready to go to press. After you have a contract. After your publisher has approved your final version. After it’s gone to typesetting and layout. Don’t waste your money on a proofreader on your early drafts unless you’re too lazy to learn grammar, spelling, and punctuation. And if you haven’t mastered the mechanics of the English language, then perhaps you have some work to do before your writing will be published. Imagine if Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers had hired someone to run laps, practice yoga, and do push-ups for him. I mean, all that really matters is if the quarterback knows the right call to play, right? If you want to play in the big leagues, then you need you…

When you write a book length manuscript you need to keep the story moving forward. Every scene, every sentence, every word should serve to advance the storyline. When editors talk about “pacing,” they refer to the narrator’s ability to keep the reader turning the page. Have you ever heard someone tell a joke that went on for so long by the time the punch line came you moaned instead of laughed? With comedy, timing is what makes it funny. It’s hard to recognize good pacing, but readers notice when it is lacking. Pacing is about the manipulation of time in text. If you are looking for a rule of thumb, this is it: When nothing happens, hurry it up. When there’s action, slow down and spell out every detail. Avoid summarizing major events. Instead, spell them out with details, particulars, specifics. If you’ve ever been in a car accident, then you know the sensation of time slowing down as the crash occurs. Carry this experience into your writing. The minutes prior to the crash whiz by at 70 mph. The second you lose control of the vehicle, time stretches and warps like slow-motion video. During the climax scene, the number of words you write will be tenfold the number about the passage of several years prior to the crisis moment. What takes only seconds or minutes in real time might be covered in ten paragraphs or ten pages. Tempo. Speed. Rhythm. Pacing is the part of an author’s composition which…

“I am looking for authors with a distinctive voice.” “Great premise but I couldn’t connect with the writer’s voice.” “The voice isn’t strong enough in the first ten pages to make me keep reading.” So what do editors mean by “voice” when they talk about the craft of writing? Voice is the individual writing style of an author. It’s the way a narrator tells their story. When you put yourself into words it’s your personality on paper. Ouch. Does this mean the editor doesn’t like you? Not exactly. Criticisms of your voice, or the lack thereof, suggests you think long and hard about the way in which you express yourself in writing. Let your distinct personality, perspective, or world-view shine in your prose. Too often writers try to write in a manner so bland as to offend no one. It ends up sounding like something written by a committee instead of a real person. If you were a musician instead of a writer, performing a piece note-for-note with perfect pitch in synch with a metronome isn’t enough. If it lacks expression, the performance is at best merely mediocre. Making the song your own is what distinguishes the rock star from the karaoke singer. Even though the basic melody is the same, Prince’s song Purple Rain sounds entirely different when sung by Tom Jones, LeAnn Rimes, Bruce Springsteen, and Etta James. Each of these singers has a distinctive voice which is different from the one belonging only to the Purple One.…