This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
By Anna Bell
Over the last two years I’ve been used to working with editors in the middle or at the end of my work in progress. Whether it’s for the freelance editors of my self-published novels or the editors at my publishing house, I have always submitted books that are finished. Currently, I’m in the editing stages of the first book that I have written from scratch for my publisher, and it has changed the way I plan and write dramatically.
When I got my book deal, book three was a mere few lines of summarised plot on a piece of paper. I’d self-published book one, and I’d finished book two to a pretty decent standard, yet book three was little more than a rough idea at that stage.
Once book two was in the editing system with my publisher, my attention turned to book three. The first step was to write a synopsis. Now, I’m sure I’m not the only one who hates synopsis writing (I’d naively assumed that when you got a publishing deal you didn’t have to write them anymore). But I wrote the evil synopsis and sent it off for comment and approval from my editor. It came back (luckily) with a thumbs up and a few comments.
Before I started writing the book, I met with my editor and I picked her brains about the writing process. How did it work? Did I write the first chapter or two and send them over as a sample to check I was on the right lines? Did I have to have a first draft polished to the best standard I could before I submitted it? The answer was that it was up to me. Some authors apparently send each chapter they write, and others only send in the complete manuscript. Having used the three act structure to plan my book and write the synopsis, I started writing as soon as the synopsis was approved. Having a detailed plan meant that my first draft was fairly painless to write. I ended up with a draft that had a few holes in it, but mainly it needed the existing plots further developed. It was also about 20,000 words too short. At that point, I had to decide between sending it over to my editor in that state, or spending time editing it first.
I chose the former, mainly because of my limited time for editing thanks to Baby Bell. I felt that I didn’t want to spend a long time polishing and editing a particular storyline if my editor felt that it didn’t work and needed to be axed. So I sent off the draft, along with some notes I’d made about where my editing was going to take me, and my editor sent me back her notes on the themes and plots. It felt unnatural sending over what seemed to be an incomplete book, but the notes have helped to have more of a focused second round edit.
I’m planning to send it off again after this edit to check I’ve nailed the themes and then hopefully I’ll polish it up before finally submitting it. Then, of course, I’ll get it back for the copy edit, and the proof read.
I’m intrigued as to how other authors work with their editors. How much of a steer does your editor have on what you write? At what stages of your work in progress do you send your manuscripts off to your editor?