Misunderstanding the Benefits of an Editor

Newsletter 5. April. 2025

Stay in touch, read behind the scenes, and learn about the writer–author's journey—progress through the art of communication.

This article considers copy editing and development editing, describing the value of employing an editor for your manuscript.

The Editor-Author Relationship

Michael Crick's biography of Jeffrey Archer provides two essential learning elements. You may be a good storyteller but might not be able to write compellingly. Secondly, the use of an editor is not something to devalue one's pride—more so if you learn by mistakes.

Archer made a good alternative living from writing and being a member of Parliament; Crick explored the dark side of Archer, the politician who ended up in prison for perjury. Crick unveiled the fact that Archer required heavy edits to his successful novels, and, being a big reader of these books, I was shocked and felt his authenticity in claiming that he was a creative writer led to me no longer buying his books after 1995. In my mind, I thought he was a fraud. This was sometime before I launched into the arena of fictional writing in 2014.

Ghostwriters

In 2010, Robert Harris's novel The Ghost (2007) was released as a film. This brought into focus that successful authors were writing for others. The film, while political, had nothing to do with Archer. Pop stars and celebrities may have little time or insufficient literary proficiency to write their stories. Nonetheless, the celebrity name is the author and not the person who has written the story based on interviews. Prince Harry published Spare, his autobiography, but J.R Moehringer made big headlines revealing his part at a time when Ghostwriters tended to remain anonymous.

While there is no suggestion that Archer did anything wrong or used a ghostwriter, editors often alter work for good reasons.

Guilt or Necessity?

One of my loyal beta readers was astounded to find I used an editorial service. He wondered why you need an editor 'when you can write'. As an indie writer himself, some of his reluctance was to shell out for an editor, as well as a tinge of arrogance. An attitude that one can write because one can use English does not necessarily equate to good writing. Ambiguity is one of our most significant flaws. We know what we mean, but does the reader? Our proximity to our work often leads to tunnel vision.

My criticism or reasons for rejecting Archer were unfair. While Crick implied a flaw, which I believed might have been mistaken for, Crick was suggesting that heavy editing was necessary—a fact, but not a crime.

Proofreaders

Sometimes, it is hard to spot mistakes, and proofreaders can reduce standard errors in syntax, typos such as missed commas, and spelling. The use of American versus British English is highly topical. With the advent of artificial intelligence and spell and grammar checkers, common mistakes can be overcome. The proofreader has expanded their remit and crept into copy editing. Not that this is wrong, but the point is that a proofreader may now claim a broader role than just checking the accuracy of writing. Stuart Budgen writes for my newsletter (No.3) on the subject.

Finding the Right Editor

A copy editor works across various industries. Their role is to proofread, fact-check, and edit the content, focusing on language and spelling errors. This means advocating change where grammar, sentence structure (syntax), and punctuation are flawed. Since commencing writing, I have met a dozen editors in various ways, from academic submissions to fictional stories.

Academic (Non-Fiction)

A panel of reviewers is used for academic work, and if this is accepted, should corrections be required or need clarification, an advisory sheet is issued. One tends to self-edit unless you have a co-author or a tutor. Once the requirements of a journal, or even a textbook, are accepted, an editor looks for the same aspects of inconsistency that any edit would, but with a higher level of fact-checking.

Developmental editing involves rearranging the arguments and strengthening claims to make a paper or text respectable. Academics might not use this type of editor; instead, they might seek opinions from colleagues and be expected to make changes themselves. The colleague who acts as a beta reader is the only person likely to be critical in academia because writing papers, articles, and chapters in books comes with an embedded attitude towards critique and partly because the advocate might appear on the finished work in some format.

Proofreading has expanded into copy editing for many.

Employment of Copy Editors

Once engaged in the self-publishing (Indie) marketplace, editing is required for fine-tuning. Not all copy editors check as well as others, and for this reason, one has to select an editor in your specific genre.

A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) will understand their microcosm of speciality and, ideally, be good at writing in the way academic work should be presented and submitted. On the other hand, they may have little idea about the peculiarity of fictional story development and structure. Spelling and sentence construction do not equate to editing but are only a part of the process.

Leaning the hard way, albeit painful, makes you realise that one editor is not the same as another. Finding an editor is like finding your lifelong partner.

Not all writers can write in a way that magnetises the eye, and the success of publication depends on the right story being accepted when the genre is flying off the bookshelves. This is the commercial side of publishing as opposed to the literary side. The area of developmental editing requires removing the chaff from the weak part of any story.

Big Picture, Small Picture

Developmental editors consider the manuscript in parts to create a cohesive whole, while the copy editor looks at the whole. It is not quite as simple as this because the plot, flow, and focus, together with plausible character development, make this a complex task. Story arcs may need to be reconsidered. Developmental editing makes changes to affect the book's overall structure, cuts out parts of the story that slow the pace, or reorganises the narrative to make it flow better. To confuse the picture, some copy editors also perform this task, and the independent author commissioning such a person should be aware of what they might receive from an editor in the way of development or pure proofreading components.

Some editors advocate changes and, once completed, use the standard tracking system to make comments. Some will allow multiple comebacks, but many won’t, and once the work is done, you are on your own. It is not usual, but some will engage the author with video calls and take a more personal interest.

All first-time authors will benefit from professional editing, and the developmental aspects are critical. This includes fixing dramatic scenes, character development, and the sequence of events in fiction. The content development process includes exposition, conflict, climax, and denouement (Candace Osmond, 2024).

The moral of the tale is that at some point, as part of an author’s development, help is required and should be considered a normal part of the writing process. Putting away petty embarrassment can only lead to better products. Given the high competition in the world of publishing, even with a good editor, there is never a guarantee that your book will blossom on the stage of the world market.

RC Blyth is a full-time writer who covers fiction and factual material. Writer's Angle is his blogging site. He works through Busypencilcase Communications & Publishing. Est. 2015.

R.C.Blyth also writes professionally under David R. Tollafield on health issues.