by Stacy Ennis
I actually bought and started reading this book immediately after having sent my manuscript off to an editor, so you might think that was too late for me to glean any use from it, but you would be wrong. Aside from the fact that there's always the next book, I really learned a lot from this book that I'm sure I can apply to my very first novel.
The most important thing I learned was the number of times I will need to have my book edited. I was kind of hoping that the editor I've already sent it to, plus maybe a proofreader later on down the road would fix me up. Turns out that's not the case. After the substantive editing stage (which is where I'm at right now, and I hadn't even known it was called that), Ennis recommends at least two rounds of copyediting and three rounds of proofreading before publication, and the last round of proofreading should be after the book has been formatted. That is not something I ever would have thought to do, but it makes sense. I know formatting is something a lot of people complain about with self-published books and I myself have come across at least a few that were badly done.
At this point, we've probably all heard about the stigma of self-publishing and how it's reaching a point where that bad rap really isn't warranted anymore. I don't think I need to add to that fight, so I'll just stay out of it (for now). The point is that editing your book is an integral part of getting that clean, polished look that will help make it unrecognizable from traditionally published books. This book emphasizes that point, and by extension, the need for multiple revisions.
There are a couple statements Ennis makes about the editing/writing process that I don't agree with. For starters, she defines editing as everything you do to get a book from the idea stage to the published stage, including writing the rough draft. I can't agree with that when I've heard so many other people say that the best thing to do is to turn off the editing part of your brain while you write. Just get the words down on the page before you review and try to change them. They are, in fact, two different processes. Writing is messy. Editing is cleaning up and organizing the mess.
I also disagreed with her position that every writer needs an outline. Her evidence is a few bestselling authors who use outlines. Good for them. They've found a system that works well for them and that's awesome. That doesn't mean that system works for everyone. Personally, I hate outlines, and I know I'm not the only one. My stories tend to be very character-driven, and in order to get a good story where everything flows and makes sense, I need to just dive into my characters and their world and see what happens. I've had too many major plot twists happen that way and I don't want an outline holding me back from staying true to my awesome characters when they decide to surprise me.
I've also heard writers complain about getting bored with their story when they use an outline. The way I see it, that's the worst thing that can happen. If you get bored by your own story, what are the chances that your readers will stay engaged?
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