When you and your editor disagree

Many’s the time that I’ve seen questions like the following on writing forums:

My editor says A… My teacher taught me B… Who’s correct?

Or I thought you should always do X, but my editor is suggesting Y… Am I right or is she?

There are some pretty big concepts within those plaintive queries. So I thought it was about time I addressed them.

Who’s right?

First, the black-and-white, right-or-wrong, whose-side-are-you-on dilemma/rhetoric.

Of course there are rules about written language use. And it’s an editor’s job to know what they are. But there are far fewer rules than many people think, and language is always changing.

Most of the rules relate to grammar, spelling and punctuation. Often, there’s more than one correct way to do things. And even in these areas, what is technically correct may not always be the most appropriate way; it depends on the context.

However, many of the questions aired on forums are about matters of style, not correctness. If your words follow an accepted, comprehensible order, and your spellings are right, and your punctuation assists (rather than adding confusion), then everything else is a stylistic choice. Layout, character perspective, sentence length, plot pacing… Style choices, all of them.

You want all your character names to begin with M? Your choice. You want to type it all in Gothic script? Your choice. You want the entire book to be a monologue from the viewpoint of the scrumpled tissue you found under the sofa? Your choice.

Your editor may not agree with your choices. But – and here is the main point – linguistically, they are not wrong.

 So why employ an editor if you’re happy with your choices?

An editor’s role

Let’s say you’ve made some stylistic choices that your editor disagrees with. A good editor should not be making wholesale changes without good reason. They should not make or suggest edits based solely on how they would have written your book. And most importantly, they should not tell you their way is right and yours is wrong (unless there is an outright language error).

However, they may have a point. Their suggestions are highly likely to be based on sound principles, the main one being to keep the reader reading. Is the writing clear, and is it engaging enough to maintain interest?

You as an author have your vision, and your style of writing. An editor’s job is to make sure your ideas are received by the reader in the way you intended.

Your instinct may be to resist or question some editorial suggestions because you don’t see any problem with your writing. It all makes perfect sense to you. You know who is speaking, what his motivations are and what happened to him when he went to stay with his auntie when he was five. You know it because you planned it, and it all came from your head.

But if your editor is suggesting changes, it’s probably because the writing is not fully clear or engaging to outsiders. Perhaps they had to read it more than once, or they misunderstood completely, or (dare I say it?) found themselves feeling a teeny bit bored. If it happened to your editor, it may well happen to your readers.

Then there are the conventions that have arisen around some common stylistic issues. For example, there’s an accepted standard way to punctuate speech, and set it out on the page. These conventions are based on the aforementioned principle of clarity for the reader. In these matters, there’s no right or wrong – only clear or unclear. You can flout conventions if you choose, but that principle should be your guide.

The editing process should showcase your ideas and your personal writing style effectively. The aim is to make good writing even better… and that may happen in ways you haven’t thought of. ‘Who is correct’ is rarely the main issue at this stage.

If you feel strongly that your style choices are right for you, have confidence in your vision. If you’ve thought hard about your reasoning, trust your own judgement. But ultimately you want your readers to understand and enjoy your writing, and that’s what a good editor should be helping you to achieve. So trust theirs, too.

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Catherine Kendal is a friendly freelance editor and proofreader who enjoys tackling the nitty-gritty challenges of the written word.

She asks three main questions:

Does this bit work?

If not, why not?

What can be done about it?

For help with your project, get in touch today.