3 ms·

So, so true. You can self-edit, but you need some distance between the time of writing and editing. Also, editing technical work is different to, say, a novel.

by auxbuss 16y ago

So, so true. You can self-edit, but you need some distance between the time of writing and editing. Also, editing technical work is different to, say, a novel. You also need to know your written language very, very well. And you need to know fundamental typography, which differs from country to country. So, yup, there's a lot more to publishing than scribbling out the words and throwing out there.

runevault 16y ago
To my mind, anyone who doesn't get this is probably a lost cause either way as they likely would be painful for a publisher to deal with once the edits started coming back, and I'm just talking the first round where the editor gives suggestions/etc, not even the final copy edits where final grammatical errors are cleaned up. The trick is learn to find two sets of readers. One who just love reading and can articulate what they like and what is lacking in a story (they really wanted this plot thread to finish but it kind of died, that sort of thing) then a group to help catch grammar and punctuations mistakes. After that if you think it's worth the cost (aka you think it has a shot of doing well) paying the ~1k+ for a professional editing service to have one last go over it is a good idea since they do that sort of thing for a living. Now if I could just find my two sets of readers once I finish the second draft of my novel...
timwiseman 16y ago
It may be just me, but I think self-editing anything of real significance is unwise. Most people know themselves, so even with some distance they will know what they meant even when it is unclear to the general reader. They will also often be blind to their own idioms (especially if they have not traveled) which may be highly local and not translate well to a broad audiance. I have never attempted to write anything book length, but I have published some short technical articles, and it is always clear which ones benefitted from a good editor and which ones did not.

by auxbuss 16y ago

runevault 16y ago

To my mind, anyone who doesn't get this is probably a lost cause either way as they likely would be painful for a publisher to deal with once the edits started coming back, and I'm just talking the first round where the editor gives suggestions/etc, not even the final copy edits where final grammatical errors are cleaned up. The trick is learn to find two sets of readers. One who just love reading and can articulate what they like and what is lacking in a story (they really wanted this plot thread to finish but it kind of died, that sort of thing) then a group to help catch grammar and punctuations mistakes. After that if you think it's worth the cost (aka you think it has a shot of doing well) paying the ~1k+ for a professional editing service to have one last go over it is a good idea since they do that sort of thing for a living. Now if I could just find my two sets of readers once I finish the second draft of my novel...

timwiseman 16y ago

It may be just me, but I think self-editing anything of real significance is unwise. Most people know themselves, so even with some distance they will know what they meant even when it is unclear to the general reader. They will also often be blind to their own idioms (especially if they have not traveled) which may be highly local and not translate well to a broad audiance. I have never attempted to write anything book length, but I have published some short technical articles, and it is always clear which ones benefitted from a good editor and which ones did not.