There’s a lot to be said about writing. It’s one of my favourite things. One of the most daunting, too. A favourite writing quote of mine comes from children’s author Beatrix Potter. She gives opening lines the flair and romanticism I think many writers – seasoned and novice alike – feel when they have those opening lines down on paper or on screen:

There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you.

But the real work starts after you’ve written the 90 000 words of your novel and punched in THE END with a dramatic swing of your arms.

You must be soft in the head, I hear you say. But no, I’m right here on the page. And I’m here to tell you that you’re in for a nasty surprise if you believe that checking typos and errors is the only thing left to do after those final words.

Even if you’veYou may even have gone through it several times, or your friend or your mother (heaven forbid). It doesn’t mean that the book is worth publishing. This is harsh, but it’s a fact, and to deny it, will make it just more difficult in the end. Ask any writer who has stuck to the traditional publishing route and has the rejection letters stuck like flags on a pinboard above their desk.

Oh, that’s easy, you say. You just load it onto Amazon! Yes, that’s right. Does it mean that you’ll make millions – as some people do? I think not.

Loading books onto Amazon is like pouring one drop of salt water into the ocean. Who is going to read you? Who is going to know that you are even there? Oh, easy, you say. You market it on social media. Be my guest – give it your best shot on all the platforms you can find. And if you do manage to reach your audience, will they read past the first page?

I don’t know about you, but if I find a typo on the first page or the blurb (even worse) I put the book down before I even begin. And I’ve had enough experiences like that not to go near Amazon just to browse.

Please note: I’m not saying all books on Amazon are worthless. The independent publisher’s market has come a long way, and some writers do much better for themselves on Amazon than if they’d had a publisher. Some even got big book deals from publishers after succeeding on Amazon.

But the stars are a few drops in that ocean. With the market as challenging as it is, my best advice is to grow a thick skin and willingly subject yourself to a professional editor and their editing process. It is a much better option to get critique from an editor, where you have time and space and expertise to help you fix what can be improved than to get slaughtered by the reviewers – whether in the press or on Goodreads – and have your hard work of months, or even years, vanish forever in that Amazonic Ocean. 

Editing is like getting rid of the smog in the early morning of someone’s work – be it a novel, a report, an academic thesis, or whatever the content. It brings that work into bright daylight for all the world to see.                                  

This is my own little piece but I block-quoted it just in case you were only paying attention to Beatrix Potter. But it does sound a bit romantic too, doesn’t it?

The process is everything but romantic, though. It’s a conversation between writer and editor. You come to an editor for their expertise. It does mean that when they suggest something, you go and have a good think about it and at least consider and experiment to see what happens if you trust their judgment and follow the suggestions. (And yes, it may well be a rewrite because writing is rewriting. Or cutting out your favourite chapter.)

If you refuse to subject yourself to the process of conversation, of toing and froing the thoughts behind what you’ve done and what they suggest, there is no point in wasting your money, is there? The question is, why have you knocked on their door in the first place? Was it to give you a gold star for the first draft? Not the best writers in the world get that.

In a belly-laugh article in The Guardian, Nell Frizzell discusses the role of an editor as much more than mere butchery, as Henry James suggested:

An editor may be butcher, but they are also a midwife, a parent, a nanny, a matron, a therapist, a conspirator and a friend. But don’t forget that, in the end, only a butcher can turn a live, stamping, snorting animal into something you can stomach.

It is only by engaging in the slaughtering process with your editor, in holding the carcass steady, that you’ll get the perfect chops.