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You're the Editor

One of the worries many writers have when they first engage with an outside editor is that the editor will make so many changes that the work won't be their own anymore. In other words, they fear their voice will be edited out.


If that's your worry, you haven't found the right editor.


Quality editors don't aim for a sheepfold of basically-all-the-same writing. 🐑 🐑 🐑 In the case of publications, whether print or online, and some publishers, in-house style guides will be firmly ensconced. (That's a good thing!) Beyond that, the editor you're looking for is one who edits to showcase the strengths of your voice, according to your voice. They'll ask questions. Provide suggestions. Be open to two-way communication.


That's why you are still your own most important editor.


You are the only one who knows the story you are telling, whether that story is fiction, memoir, or a business email. Interrogate your prose, sentence by sentence. What are these words saying? Is it what you mean? Try summarizing and paraphrasing your own words.


It may feel silly, but I promise it's worth the effort. The effort invested in finding a new way to say what you are saying gives you the distance you need to evaluate your words like a reader.


Image: signs saying "Open all seven days; open on Monday also"


Back in my day (please read that in the style of a crusty curmudgeon), Microsoft Word had a "summary" feature embedded in Word. The tool would take your document, or portion of document, and summarize it for you, using your own language.


I found it wonderfully useful to use this tool to do a spot check on what meaning my words communicated. You can still find any number of online AI tools to do this summary, but it's up to you regarding your comfort level in sharing your writing to "teach" a machine.




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