I have already had some lovely advertising from Denise but I have to say that editing her work is such fun and she is such a great ‘editee’ that it didn’t seem much like work at all. I don’t think I have worked with more than a handful of people who are so willing to take my thoughts on board and in fact have come to you fresh from such an entitled ‘author’ that it’s a wonder the fire coming down my nose hasn’t set my computer afire! The thing is, authors and would-be authors out there, we editors, in the main, are not here to make you feel small and put red lines through your work for fun. We don’t correct your spelling because it gives us a buzz but because if it should be ‘their’, then ‘they’re’ or even ‘there’ doesn’t cut it. Spelling, in most cases, is not just something you can play around with – I am ignoring people like James Joyce and George Bernard Shaw for the moment because, to be honest, it’s annoying even when they do it. I mean, have you read either of them? No, didn’t think so.

However, to get back to editing. So, spelling – we put it right. And that’s it. Grammar is a little more a matter of taste. Speaking for myself, I would rather have too little than too much. I know the rules are to use commas to take out phrases which the sentence can do without but that can make it a bit ‘gaspy’ (on the premise that a comma is a breath) and if it makes sense without, then do without by all means and I probably won’t quibble. Dashes – let’s have fewer! They are for the big things that don’t belong in sentences, and in most cases a stop or a semi-colon will do the job well. Sometimes a piece has so many dashes (of all lengths) that it looks like a cut out pattern for a Christmas decoration or some other craft project. So, go light on those.

Paragraphs – all I ask is that you have some.

This is a recent problem for me but please, please, don’t send things to be edited which have been written by AI. Let me tell you, and this is absolutely true, that any editor worth their salt can tell AI in the blink of an eye. Not only is it generally gibberish after the first line or two, but it is just so bland and banal and over adjectived that it stands out like a sore thumb. If you need a computer to write it, you’re not a writer and that is just a fact. 

I get asked all the time how much money an author is likely to make and the answer is easy. Hardly any. Some people end up in minus equity because once they have been edited, designed, all that, they have a debt that sales will never fill. So, please, I beg of you, don’t go into writing for the money. It is not a reason. The only reason should be is that you are like Denise and have a story that has been banging on the inside of your skull for years and has to get out. This also applies to non-fiction, you have an idea to share, knowledge you think will interest people. But money – no. Unless you are very, very lucky, but those people are a once in a blue moon occurrence.

This is just a blog, so necessarily short, but if you want to find out more there is a great book on Amazon, written by me (there, I have outed myself!) and it is amusing, though all sensible advice. It’s a quick read and might help you decide on whether you want to try this writing lark. Let’s Write Right: An Aspiring Authors’ Guide to Writing, Self-Publishing and Traditional Publishing eBook : Erith, Merle: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store If you have any questions you think I might be able to answer in a line or two, just leave them here on Denise’s website and she will pass them on.