THE GREEN PENCIL

Every great hero in literature has had their own number two–a companion who acts as a friend, loyal supporter, advisor, reliever of worries, a wall to bounce the hero’s great ideas off of, a helper in action scenes or dramatic sequences, and so much more.

This has been true ever since literary heroes first came into existence. You will probably recognise at least some of these famous pairs:

• Enkidu–Gilgamesh
• Patroclus–Achilles
• Horatio–Hamlet
• Dr. Watson–Sherlock Holmes
• Capt. Hastings–Hercule Poirot
• Bess Marvin and George Fayne–Nancy Drew
• Number Two–Mr Benedict (If you know this pair, I know we’ll be best friends.)

Now imagine the protagonist, the main character, without their corresponding sidekick. What would they do in that case?

Well, if fictional characters can’t do without them, why shouldn’t you, as a writer, get to have one in your author journey?

And if you’re wondering, Well, I already have a best friend, let me ask you: is that friend a book expert? And not just a reading aficionado, but also someone who is excellent at grammar and writing advice? For that matter, do they know the difference between a well-formatted book and a bad page layout?

If your answer to these questions is “Yes”, then CONGRATULATIONS! You’re a lucky writer. Your friend is probably an editor too, or can easily become one.

But if your answer is “No”, well, worry not. You’ve just found an editor to be your loyal sidekick!

Pros of Having an Editor

1. Feel confident about owning your writing

You’ll be amazed at how much you can improve your writing simply by having someone else look at it!

Even if they are not a grammar expert, they can give you valuable feedback because they are reading it for itself. They don’t have your background research. They don’t know what you had in mind while writing something or what you assumed everyone would know.

Now, imagine if this other person were a grammar expert, in addition to being a punctuation expert, a cohesive, coherent, concise language and communication expert, a style expert … you get the idea. In short, having an editor on your side would ensure that your writing is as flawless and refined as it can be and that it’s easily understandable (and enjoyable) for your target audience. Oh, and that you can be rightly proud of it and never again shy away from marketing yourself as an author!

2. Get a cheerleader as a bonus to recommend your book everywhere they go

A good story, be it fiction or non-fiction, impresses all its readers, and it will impress your editor even more because they’ve seen first-hand how much effort you’ve put into it and how far it has come from the very first draft!

Being book-loving nerds, editors tend to rave about the latest book they’ve enjoyed working on to almost anyone who’ll listen. Sceptical? Don’t take my word for it, check out the social media posts of any editor and there’s a 99% chance you’ll see what I mean. That is, if they have the author’s consent to do so.

I myself have always promoted my clients’ works, at the very least, by word of mouth to my family and friends, and you have only to read a book’s acknowledgements pages to see how much editors can come to mean to authors! I believe I am right when I say all editors became editors because they genuinely want to see good books out in the world, which is why they get the most satisfaction from helping authors in putting their best foot (book?) forward.

3. Learn to self-edit as you go

Working with an editor is no rocket science. Good editors explain each change they make to your text, and when they add suggestions and alternatives as comments, it can educate you, over the course of editing a manuscript, about how to prepare the next so it needs even less effort to edit (and consequently a smaller editorial budget).

Editors provide polite, friendly feedback on all kinds of issues in your own writing—problems that you might not have even known existed. And those learnings are harder to forget than Google or Dictionary searches on the issues that you are able to identify on your own.

At the end of the day, as the author whose name graces the front cover of your book, you are the hero of your story. But your editor is the friend who knows how hard you’ve toiled over your greatest exploit, and someone who will be there to celebrate your wins, always.

---

Hey there! I’m Shruti, a professional freelance copy editor and proofreader from Lucknow, India. I’m also the author of two self-published children’s mystery books.

At The Green Pencil, I offer editorial services to help fiction as well as non-fiction authors (from India and other corners of the globe) elevate their writing from final draft to delivery-ready.

Like all editors, I genuinely want to see your book out there in all its glory, unblemished by errors of any kind; and I do not intend for an exorbitant fee that you can’t afford to come in the way of that.

Reach out to me today to know my custom quote for your work-in-progress! 🙂

Cover photo by Pixabay.