The Problem With Editing and Editors · 2:16am Jan 3rd, 2017
I think for me, right now, the biggest problem I'm having with my stories is finding a good editor. Someone who can give my tortured prose the critical eye it so desperately needs. But so far that's proving to be harder than actually spewing words onto a page (which is already hard enough for me to do). The problem has proven so daunting that I haven't bothered with one for the short experimental and fluffy stuff; but I definitely need one for the larger, more seriously-attempted prose.
My experiences with the editing groups on this site have been uniformly dismal. Responses range from the merely clueless ("You should totally publish it like that and I'd totally 'like' it"; which, while mildly flattering, isn't particularly helpful), to raging ego-trippers who forego editing in favour of denigrating the work because it doesn't happen to fit into their headcanon, to outright flaming assholes (for example, 'criticizing' dialog from a developmentally disabled character with a comment like "This is shit, dumb people don't talk like that", or trying to start a religious war over American vs. British spelling conventions).
Trying to get editing help more directly hasn't been much more productive. The problem I have is four-fold...
Finding someone who has a solid grasp of the basics.
I don't necessarily demand that an editor be a great author, but they should at least be a better writer than I am (which isn't all that hard to do). I'll generally peruse their stories if they've written any; otherwise their reviews or blog posts will provide a good guide to their skill. This is something else I've found to be a problem with the editing groups -- a lot of those volunteering have a less-than-adequate grasp of the craft themselves. I've run across any number of stories with one or more editing credits from those groups that are rife with basic spelling and grammatical errors.
On top of that, there's the issue of canon, this being fanfic and all. I'd want whoever edits my work to have a strong grasp of canon, so that they can tell me when I'm breaking it with either my characters or my world. This is even true for Alternate Universe, since it still has to be recognizably related to canon, a variation on the established theme.
Matching the editor to the story.
So, having thus reduced my pool of potential editors, I find myself with a new problem, finding an editor who is right for the story I'm writing. Not everyone likes reading or writing the same sorts of stories, so obviously some editors aren't going to be the best choice for a particular work. The most obvious problem is with crossovers. Finding someone sufficiently conversant with the crossover world, let alone a fan of it, can be an exercise in futility. But beyond that, there are other obvious mismatches. I wouldn't ask someone who hates Equestria Girls and shipping to edit a Sunset-Twiangle romance, nor would I ask someone whose sole interest is strictly canon E-rated comedy and slice-of-life to edit a dark, M-rated AU mystery or thriller. They're not going to like it, and they're not going to "get it". I'd prefer to have an editor who has at least a chance of enjoying the story they're ripping to bits, and who is likely to understand what I'm trying to do.
Finding someone who is available.
This is probably my biggest problem at the moment. I can think of several members of the site who would be great choices for editing certain works; but what with one thing and another and real-life getting in the way, so many of them are simply not available. In some cases, they've been absent for weeks, if not months. Add to that the fact that most of my stories range in size from novella to epic trilogy, that's a huge time investment for most people, and not something that a lot of people are necessarily going to be around for consistently enough.
Which brings up my final problem...
Finding someone who is willing.
Editing is a huge investment of time and effort. Not as much as writing, but still far from trivial. To sink that much time into one's own work is find and good, it's why we're here after all. To sink it into someone else's work, well, that's a pony of an entirely different colour (and possibly tribe as well, I haven't figured that part out yet). And if it's not something that one is likely to enjoy doing, then why bother? After all, that's what we're all here for, to have fun. Nearly all of us are here to have fun reading. Some of us are here to have fun writing and seeing other peoples' reactions to what we write. A few of us have fun reviewing other peoples' work and providing feedback. Editing is probably the least entertaining activity I can imagine going on here. Good editing is nearly as difficult as good writing, and far less rewarding, so there are going to be far fewer people doing it. I've done it, and I do enjoy it to a small extent, but not nearly as much as all the other stuff I do here.
So that's my dilemma. I could simply skip the editing process and just publish (like I do with my less serious writing); but I know that I'd end up with an inferiour result, one that would not be as enjoyable to my readers, were I to do so. So, I'm up a creek, stuck in limbo, casting about aimlessly for some sort of path to improving my prose (and avoid all these mixed and broken metaphors in the process).
What to do, what to do.
I have oodles of time, Fimfiction is basically the only source of entertainment that's reliable with my current wifi, and you can judge my skill level for yourself.
Just throwing that out there.
4367006
I was actually considering poking you about one or two of them as soon as I get them in a readable state. I have one in limbo I may throw at you as well; though I don't know that it's something you'd be interested in.
4367424 If it is, I'll let you know. If it isn't, I'll tell you up front.