Raylan's Rules of Editing · 12:56am Sep 5th, 2014
This blog doesn’t exactly have an intended audience; rather I’m publishing it so I can direct future people toward it in the hopes of saving some time later. Efficiency! Yay! If you’re someone whose work I’ve edited, rest assured this is not a passive aggressive shot across your bow. I’ve enjoyed working with everyone I’ve crossed path with, if I didn’t I would have quit.
I like editing/pre-reading stuff. (Yeah and I know that there isn’t an exact agreement on what these two terms mean, I use editing to mean fixing punctuation/grammar and pre-reading to mean helping point out plot holes, ooc situations and other similar problems like “you need to explain/say this better”. ) Sometimes I feel like I have too much editing to do, and other times I think, “eh it’d be nice to have something to work on that’s not mine”, (less stressful).
Truth be told, I enjoy pre-reading more than editing, but I also recognize that most authors are not looking for a pre-reader as much as they are looking for an editor, and so sometimes agreeing to fix punctuation and stuff is the price of admission for getting to offer opinions on plot and characterization, and I’m okay with that.
I’m not a particularly great editor but I can catch typos, most spelling and grammar errors and fair amount of punctuation problems. I like to think I’m a pretty solid pre-reader in terms of stuff like plot and characterization.
So if you need an editor/pre-reader, feel free to pm me, after reading the rest of this. (This is not a guarantee I’ll say yes, it’s just I’m generally open to solicitations)
First some basic ground rules:
I won’t edit clop, trollfics, HiE, antrho, 2nd person fics, or crossovers, (even mass effect ones). Just don’t ask. I probably won’t edit first person fics.
I work in gdocs. It’s simply too cumbersome to make changes on fimfiction, so if you want my help, have a g-doc I can access/comment on. I may be willing to wave this requirement but don’t bet on it. I don’t skype.
I work for free but I do expect you to credit me in the story description, preferably with a link.
Some other points you should know before we begin working together.
Do not rush me
I will get to your story as soon as I can, and unless you ask me to edit 50,000 words I will almost certainly have it back to you within 24 hours of receiving your message, (I pride myself on having a fast turnaround). If I can’t get it to you in that time frame I will at least tell you, “hey this may take me a few days”. What I expect from you then is to not ask “How’s my story coming?” until 3 days have passed.
It’s your story
I’m going to make suggestions, feel free to accept or reject them, really it won’t bother me. But…you asked for my help which means you should at least think about what I am saying. If I tell you that a character is acting ooc, or that this scene doesn’t make sense, I’m not telling you that to be mean, or to validate my own existence, I’m saying it because that character is acting ooc or that scene doesn’t make sense, so you should at least consider my point of view.
I'm going to be critical
It's just who I am. Two of my most often left comments are "huh" and "rephrase this". If I'm your editor I'm going to question your word choices and phrasing, and small details. I do it to make your story better. I'm not a very warm, effusive person. If you are looking for someone to hold your hand and tell you how great your story is, I'm not your guy. If you want someone who can probably make your story at least a little better, then I am. I will never attack you personally and I'll never insult you. "This sounds odd" is meant as "Your choice of words makes it difficult to discern your meaning", not "You're an idiot".
Be direct
This is more a general communication principle, but it bears repeating. Tell me what you expect from me. Is this story a one shot or a twenty chapter epic? Are you looking for help with this one chapter or all of them? What do you want me to be particularly mindful of? What are your concerns with you story? Communication is good. What you can expect from me is that I will be direct with you.
I am not here so you can make mistakes with impunity.
Again an editor/pre-reader is there to help make your story better/make you a better writer. It is not my job to clean up your mess. If I’m going to put effort into helping you, you need to try and make my life easier. If you send me a mistake riddled draft, (particularly if I know you can write better), I am liable to send it back with a note saying “try again”.
If you’re not okay with any of this, cool. Part of finding an editor is finding someone you can work with, and that can be a search. And like any relationship it may take a few messages to iron out the kinks. So like I said if any of this doesn’t jive with you, I’m not the editor for you and that’s okay. If you are okay with the above stuff go ahead and shoot me a pm.
so you would edit for me if I asked? even tho my own skill at punctuation is crap?
just a little curios
2428510 That depends on what are you asking me to edit? Can we work in gdocs? All the other above stuff I talked about. Your being bad at puctuation is not a deal breaker.
2428672 I'll send a pm of what I need edited and what not