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Want to line edit crime fiction and thrillers? Pick up some handy tips to help you on your way.
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Parentheses
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Tell me about parentheses (round brackets) and how they work.
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Commas
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Tell me about parentheses, round brackets, and how they work.
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Spaced en dashes
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Tell me about parentheses – round brackets – and how they work.
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Closed-up em dashes
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Tell me about parentheses—round brackets—and how they work.
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Parentheses as convention breakers in fiction
All the examples above are grammatically correct, though parentheses are used far less frequently in contemporary commercial fiction.
This might be because they’re large and therefore visible marks – ones that demand a reader’s attention. That they’re interruptive could be a good reason to avoid them, though it could equally be the very reason why you want to use them.
The key to using any punctuation mark effectively is to understand its purpose and consider how the reader will interpret it. And so just because the use of parentheses is infrequent enough in fiction to make it unconventional isn’t a reason to ban them from prose.
This might be because they’re large and therefore visible marks – ones that demand a reader’s attention. That they’re interruptive could be a good reason to avoid them, though it could equally be the very reason why you want to use them.
The key to using any punctuation mark effectively is to understand its purpose and consider how the reader will interpret it. And so just because the use of parentheses is infrequent enough in fiction to make it unconventional isn’t a reason to ban them from prose.
Parentheses as satirical and viewpoint-switch markers
I most often see parentheses used in fiction in these two ways:
If you’d like to explore my analysis of these two uses, read How to use round brackets (parentheses) in fiction writing.
Scroll through the comments on that post and you’ll see a fantastic question raised by a reader that got me thinking about parentheses again.
- For satirical purposes – an external narrator wants to poke fun at a focus character’s behaviour, thoughts or dialogue.
- For viewpoint purposes – the narrative is written from a viewpoint character’s perspective and therefor limited to their experience, but an external narrator wishes briefly to interrupt.
If you’d like to explore my analysis of these two uses, read How to use round brackets (parentheses) in fiction writing.
Scroll through the comments on that post and you’ll see a fantastic question raised by a reader that got me thinking about parentheses again.
The question an author posed
That reader is Ellen Gwaltney Bales, a fiction writer, and she said:
‘Louise, I'm writing a short story in which I have inserted a couple of parenthetical phrases (I don't even know what to call them) which separate one part of a sentence from another. I've seen Stephen King do this and it fascinated me. The character (narrator) is reflecting on a dream she has just awoken from. What do you think of this style, and what is it called?’
I replied admitting that I didn’t know quite what this is called in terms of literary style but that she’d got me thinking, and helped me consider a third function of parentheses that I hadn’t interrogated before: simultaneity.
Here’s her example. It’s from a short story tentatively titled ‘The Woman at the Window’.
‘Louise, I'm writing a short story in which I have inserted a couple of parenthetical phrases (I don't even know what to call them) which separate one part of a sentence from another. I've seen Stephen King do this and it fascinated me. The character (narrator) is reflecting on a dream she has just awoken from. What do you think of this style, and what is it called?’
I replied admitting that I didn’t know quite what this is called in terms of literary style but that she’d got me thinking, and helped me consider a third function of parentheses that I hadn’t interrogated before: simultaneity.
Here’s her example. It’s from a short story tentatively titled ‘The Woman at the Window’.
I could see my brother Rick running through the Black Forest looking for a place to hide from
(the bombs bursting in air)
bombs that were dropping by the hundreds from a fiery sky.
(the bombs bursting in air)
bombs that were dropping by the hundreds from a fiery sky.
There are a couple of interesting things going on in Ellen’s example – not just the parenthetical phrase but also the placement of it. It takes its own line, which makes it stand out even more.
Why parentheses can convey simultaneity
I told Ellen that I liked her excerpt very much. The round brackets and the new line mean the phrase is certainly interruptive. And while I’d interpreted the effect of her choice of punctuation in a particular way, I was keen to understand what she’d hoped to achieve.
‘I wanted to shake the reader up a bit by writing it that way,’ she told me.
And she succeeded. Parentheses do stand out. So does the separate line. But my reading of her work led me to consider another effect she’d created, albeit unwittingly – simultaneity.
‘I wanted to shake the reader up a bit by writing it that way,’ she told me.
And she succeeded. Parentheses do stand out. So does the separate line. But my reading of her work led me to consider another effect she’d created, albeit unwittingly – simultaneity.
How readers process sentences in a linear fashion
Here’s another slightly edited excerpt from Ellen’s short story:
More and more I dreamed of her at night in confusing, surrealistic visions mixed up with dreams about bombs and my brother Rick. One night just before Labor Day I woke up screaming, terrified, seeing missiles exploding, and the rockets' red glare, and the sky alight with flames.
This is linear description. We absorb the story in the order the phrases are presented to us – first the dreaming, then the waking-up on a night just before Labor Day, then the terrified screaming, then seeing the exploding missiles, then the glare of the rockets, and finally the flaming sky.
But actually, that’s not how Ellen wrote it. Here’s the unedited version:
More and more I dreamed of her at night in confusing, surrealistic visions mixed up with dreams about bombs and my brother Rick. One night just before Labor Day I woke up screaming, terrified, seeing missiles exploding
(and the rockets' red glare)
and the sky alight with flames.
(and the rockets' red glare)
and the sky alight with flames.
The rocket-glare phrase is now bracketed and takes its own line. And I think this changes that linearity subtly. It’s as if the glare of the rockets is experienced at the very same moment that the missiles are exploding. It’s another layer of experience that sits behind the explosions.
That’s how we often experience traumatic events in reality. Our brains work so fast that we process multiple pieces of information and feel multiple emotions all at once. The difficulty comes in expressing that in linear text.
In Ellen’s example, the parentheses act as a signal of this simultaneity of experience, and show rather than tell an onslaught of emotional, auditory and visual information.
Showing sensory assault through simultaneity
Let’s revisit Ellen’s first example and explore it through the lens of simultaneity.
I could see my brother Rick running through the Black Forest looking for a place to hide from
(the bombs bursting in air)
bombs that were dropping by the hundreds from a fiery sky.
(the bombs bursting in air)
bombs that were dropping by the hundreds from a fiery sky.
The way the parenthetical phrase punctuates the prose makes me feel uncomfortable. It jars me visually. And that’s why I love it. It shows rather than tells the assault on the senses that I can imagine a person would experience if they were in an environment where missiles were exploding and falling around them.
The character awakes. She’s likely still shaken from the dream, and trying to process what she experienced. And so she narrates what she saw, which pared down is this:
I could see my brother Rick running through the Black Forest looking for a place to hide from bombs that were dropping by the hundreds from a fiery sky.
But as she's thinking about this, the bursting bombs is there too, behind the more expository narration, right at the same time. And it’s the bracketed line that shows this.
An alternative might have been:
I could see my brother Rick running through the Black Forest looking for a place to hide from while bombs were bursting in air as they dropped by the hundreds from a fiery sky.
In that revised version, 'as' tells the simultaneity. It's told prose. Instead, Ellen as author, has shown us with the parentheses, and it's far more dramatic.
And so we might consider parenthetical statements such as this as devices that help authors create layers of simultaneous experience that are warranted when there’s sensory assault in play.
Showing conflict through simultaneity
There’s another way in which you might use parentheses as a simultaneity device: to convey conflict.
Here’s an example that I have written more conventionally, using italic and a tag to convey a thought.
Here’s an example that I have written more conventionally, using italic and a tag to convey a thought.
Louise read the text. Her friend had an idea, one that had been on her mind for ages. The words ‘editing podcast’ and multiple star-struck emojis spilled over the screen. Was she up for it? They could do it together, D said – less work that way.
Say no, she thought. You don’t have time.
Yes yes yes yes, she typed, because it would be a crap ton of fun and the alternative was D asking someone else, and that was unthinkable.
Say no, she thought. You don’t have time.
Yes yes yes yes, she typed, because it would be a crap ton of fun and the alternative was D asking someone else, and that was unthinkable.
This approach encourages the reader to approach the prose in a linear way: First D texts Louise with an idea. Then a thought process takes place. Then Louise responds.
But look what happens when we experiment with parentheses.
Louise read the text. Her friend had an idea, one that had been on her mind for ages. The words ‘editing podcast’ and multiple star-struck emojis spilled over the screen. Was she up for it? They could do it together, D said – less work that way.
(Say no. You don’t have time.)
Yes yes yes yes, she typed, because it would be a crap ton of fun and the alternative was D asking someone else, and that was unthinkable.
(Say no. You don’t have time.)
Yes yes yes yes, she typed, because it would be a crap ton of fun and the alternative was D asking someone else, and that was unthinkable.
Now there’s a signal that two conflicting emotional responses are in play simultaneously. Thinking ‘no’ and typing ‘yes’ are occurring at the same time.
Summing up
Using parentheses in fiction takes a little courage because they inevitably jar the reader, force them to step back and take notice. Some writers and editors fear that it’s a distraction too far, one that risks pulling their audience out of the prose and into how that prose is punctuated.
However, used purposefully, parentheses can enhance that moment and create a sense of simultaneity of experience – perhaps involving an assault on the senses or competing emotions fighting for primacy in a character’s mind.
There are no rules in fiction. Instead, what writers (and the editors who work with them) must strive for is how best to communicate a character’s emotions, perception and actions in the moment, so that the reader can get under the skin of that experience.
And it might just be that – once in a while – a pair of round brackets helps with that goal.
However, used purposefully, parentheses can enhance that moment and create a sense of simultaneity of experience – perhaps involving an assault on the senses or competing emotions fighting for primacy in a character’s mind.
There are no rules in fiction. Instead, what writers (and the editors who work with them) must strive for is how best to communicate a character’s emotions, perception and actions in the moment, so that the reader can get under the skin of that experience.
And it might just be that – once in a while – a pair of round brackets helps with that goal.
Other resources you might like
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Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Summary of Episode 92
We explore the term ‘OCD’ and why it has no place as a marker of attention to detail for the professional editor. Listen to find out more about:
- The difference between character traits of orderliness and the lived experience of OCD
- What is OCD and how does it affect people?
- Why OCD is a noun and what that means for how we use the term
- How OCD might manifest
- How flippant and colloquial references to OCD diminish lived experience
- Intention versus perception of harm
- Editing text: querying rather than prescribing problems and solutions
- Does fiction offer more scope for use of harmful language?
- Alternative words and phrases
- Helping clients create engaging rather than distracting messages
Join our Patreon community
If you'd like to support The Editing Podcast, thank you! That means the world to us.
Music credit
‘Vivacity’ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Are you worried about revising blog posts that you wrote a few years back? Think it’s dishonest or underhanded? Read on to find out why you should embrace editing your blog content, regardless of when you wrote it.
What’s included in this post
- What a blog is
- How the search engines find blog content
- Why there’s no such thing as an ‘old’ blog post
- Historical record or a reflection of your business’s values?
- What about content written by guests?
- How you might update your blog content
- Might you tag out-of-date posts as archive material instead?
What a blog is
A blog is simply a collection of web pages.
Just like other web pages on your site, blog posts include an H1 heading (the blog-post title) and text. You can add additional headings, buttons, links and other audiovisual material, as well as SEO-friendly meta data and alt-text in images to improve accessibility.
Unlike other pages on your site, blog posts are organized in a way that makes the content more accessible for readers, perhaps via some or all of the following:
Just like other web pages on your site, blog posts include an H1 heading (the blog-post title) and text. You can add additional headings, buttons, links and other audiovisual material, as well as SEO-friendly meta data and alt-text in images to improve accessibility.
Unlike other pages on your site, blog posts are organized in a way that makes the content more accessible for readers, perhaps via some or all of the following:
- A single point of access to multiple pages
- A topic-based archive
- A date-based archive
- A keyword archive
- A search tool
- The date the content on the page was published
- The option for readers to comment on the page’s content
How the search engines find blog content
When a user types a query into the search engines, those search engines scour visible web pages all over the world for signs of relevance.
The likes of Google don’t give a damn about:
What they are interested in is whether you’ve published content that’s relevant to a search query. So a blog post with keywords and phrases that align with a user’s query will rank higher in the search results.
They’re also interested in how long users stay on that page, and what they do when they leave it. When people stick around on a particular page, that’s a signal that you’ve offered a good user experience.
And if you create links from a blog post to other pages on your website (for example, another blog post, a resource library or your editorial services page) that a user finds interesting and so doesn’t bounce out of your website, that’s another indication that you’re providing relevant solutions to the searcher’s problems.
The more relevant pages you have on your site, the more likely they are to be listed higher up the results of a search query, and the more likely you are to be visited by that ideal client who clicks through.
The likes of Google don’t give a damn about:
- when you published the content
- whether you’ve changed your opinion since you created the content
- or whether the language you’ve used in a ten-year-old post is language you wouldn’t use now because you’re more aware.
What they are interested in is whether you’ve published content that’s relevant to a search query. So a blog post with keywords and phrases that align with a user’s query will rank higher in the search results.
They’re also interested in how long users stay on that page, and what they do when they leave it. When people stick around on a particular page, that’s a signal that you’ve offered a good user experience.
And if you create links from a blog post to other pages on your website (for example, another blog post, a resource library or your editorial services page) that a user finds interesting and so doesn’t bounce out of your website, that’s another indication that you’re providing relevant solutions to the searcher’s problems.
The more relevant pages you have on your site, the more likely they are to be listed higher up the results of a search query, and the more likely you are to be visited by that ideal client who clicks through.
Why there’s no such thing as an ‘old’ blog post
Given that blog posts are just web pages, and that relevant web pages are more likely to be found by the search engines and listed in the search results, a really useful blog post – one that answers a question often posed by searchers – will be visible and valuable even if it was written years ago.
In that sense, there’s no such thing as an ‘old’ blog post. Remember, Google doesn’t care about the date of publication; it cares only about how relevant your content is to a search query.
The question editor bloggers therefore need to ask themselves is: Do you want people finding content on your business website that
If the answer’s no, it’s critical that you frame your blogging mindset in terms of ‘what’, not ‘when’.
In that sense, there’s no such thing as an ‘old’ blog post. Remember, Google doesn’t care about the date of publication; it cares only about how relevant your content is to a search query.
The question editor bloggers therefore need to ask themselves is: Do you want people finding content on your business website that
- is out of date, or makes you appear to be out of step with your profession
- uses language that you wouldn’t dream of using now
- or offers advice that you’ve long since revised your opinion on?
If the answer’s no, it’s critical that you frame your blogging mindset in terms of ‘what’, not ‘when’.
Historical record or a reflection of your business’s values?
None of us would dream of including an old phone number or email address on our contact page, or an editorial service that we no longer provide on our services page, or a logo we’ve long since abandoned on our home page.
That’s because we don’t consider our contact, services or home pages to be historical records of what once was. Rather, the content on those pages reflects our business as it is now.
The same applies to a blog. This is merely a collection of other web pages on your site, and so it needs to be treated similarly. Every blog post needs to be regarded as if it were published yesterday.
Blog content is therefore current. That content is a reflection of your business and your brand values as they are today.
Even if that content was published ten years ago.
Certainly, some written materials are historical records – a journal article published in 1969, the first edition of a book, the minutes of a meeting – but editors' blogs are not.
And so if you have blog content on your website that doesn’t reflect your business brand as it is now, it’s time to update it.
Your website is your business shop front, the digital land that you own and control. And you have a duty to preserve its integrity.
That’s because we don’t consider our contact, services or home pages to be historical records of what once was. Rather, the content on those pages reflects our business as it is now.
The same applies to a blog. This is merely a collection of other web pages on your site, and so it needs to be treated similarly. Every blog post needs to be regarded as if it were published yesterday.
Blog content is therefore current. That content is a reflection of your business and your brand values as they are today.
Even if that content was published ten years ago.
Certainly, some written materials are historical records – a journal article published in 1969, the first edition of a book, the minutes of a meeting – but editors' blogs are not.
And so if you have blog content on your website that doesn’t reflect your business brand as it is now, it’s time to update it.
Your website is your business shop front, the digital land that you own and control. And you have a duty to preserve its integrity.
What about content written by guests?
When you offer guests the opportunity to write for your blog, you're giving them access to your platform.
YOUR platform.
It’s still your land, your business shop front, and it’s you, not your guest, who is responsible for that space. You therefore still have the right to preserve your website’s integrity. And if that means some sort of intervention, so be it.
If you’re now uncomfortable with the content – even though you weren’t when you published it – decide on the most appropriate way to ensure it reflects your business’s brand values.
YOUR platform.
It’s still your land, your business shop front, and it’s you, not your guest, who is responsible for that space. You therefore still have the right to preserve your website’s integrity. And if that means some sort of intervention, so be it.
If you’re now uncomfortable with the content – even though you weren’t when you published it – decide on the most appropriate way to ensure it reflects your business’s brand values.
How you might update your blog content
The decisions you make about your blog content are the same as those you’d make for the content on any other web page on your site.
Revision
You might choose to edit existing content so that it’s up to date and accessible.
Revision’s a great option for posts that rank high in the search engines for particular queries, and drive potential clients to your website. You get to keep your findability but ensure your existing brand is intact.
Do make sure these valuable posts link to other relevant content on your website.
Deletion
You might decide to delete entire posts, thereby removing those web pages from your site.
Deletion’s a good option for the following types of blog content:
Repurpose
You might decide to rewrite, using the same theme but bringing your current experience into play.
Repurposing’s a good option for when your original blog post tackled a theme that’s relevant to the kind of people you want to visit your website, but you need a complete rewrite to ensure the content’s bang up to date and reflects your editorial business’s brand values.
Revision
You might choose to edit existing content so that it’s up to date and accessible.
Revision’s a great option for posts that rank high in the search engines for particular queries, and drive potential clients to your website. You get to keep your findability but ensure your existing brand is intact.
Do make sure these valuable posts link to other relevant content on your website.
Deletion
You might decide to delete entire posts, thereby removing those web pages from your site.
Deletion’s a good option for the following types of blog content:
- Posts that are never found and never read.
- Posts that are so out of date that they could damage your business brand.
- Posts that are no longer relevant, for example a review of a book, course or piece of software that’s no longer available.
Repurpose
You might decide to rewrite, using the same theme but bringing your current experience into play.
Repurposing’s a good option for when your original blog post tackled a theme that’s relevant to the kind of people you want to visit your website, but you need a complete rewrite to ensure the content’s bang up to date and reflects your editorial business’s brand values.
Might you tag out-of-date posts as archive material instead?
Tagging blog content as archived material rather than updating it is not a solution because it’s still visible.
And website visitors often scan content, and so likely won’t notice the date or an archive marker. Instead, they’ll search for the solution they originally came to the post for.
If that material’s out of date, the damage is done because what they're reading isn't reflecting your current brand values.
There are online online archives, and those serve a purpose, but that’s not the purpose of your editorial blog. Your blog posts, like every other page on your website, should show potential clients why you’re a great fit for each other now.
And website visitors often scan content, and so likely won’t notice the date or an archive marker. Instead, they’ll search for the solution they originally came to the post for.
If that material’s out of date, the damage is done because what they're reading isn't reflecting your current brand values.
There are online online archives, and those serve a purpose, but that’s not the purpose of your editorial blog. Your blog posts, like every other page on your website, should show potential clients why you’re a great fit for each other now.
Summing up
Edit your blog content with alacrity! It’s not just okay to do so; it’s essential to do so. Editorial business websites tell our potential clients:
Every single web page on our site needs to reflect that messaging. And since blog posts are just web pages, they should be current and relevant. Out-of-date blog content screams out-of-date business. That has no place in any editor’s marketing strategy.
And the date a blog post was published is irrelevant because that’s not what determines its findability. It’s relevance to a search query is what makes it visible. And if it’s visible, it’s visible now.
Happy revising!
- who we are
- what we do
- what we stand for
- and how we can help them.
Every single web page on our site needs to reflect that messaging. And since blog posts are just web pages, they should be current and relevant. Out-of-date blog content screams out-of-date business. That has no place in any editor’s marketing strategy.
And the date a blog post was published is irrelevant because that’s not what determines its findability. It’s relevance to a search query is what makes it visible. And if it’s visible, it’s visible now.
Happy revising!
Related training resources
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Editor Website Essentials: Find out how to craft a visible, loveable editorial website with this 10-step framework that takes you through the essentials of SEO, navigation, structure, visitors, UX, branding, web page copy, home page design, content and analytics. Find out more about the course.
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Blogging for Business Growth: Learn how to create a discoverable, captivating and memorable blog that drives website traffic, increases visibility in the search engines, and generates editing work. Find out more about the course.
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Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Summary of Episode 91
Should editors be interrogating the language of illness? We chat with Louise Bolotin about challenging normative narratives around cancer and terminal illness. Listen to find out more about:
- Louise Bolotin's cancer diagnosis
- Why the language preferences of those with terminal illnesses aren't homogenous
- Terms in the language of illness that can hurt and harm
- Why editors have a duty to challenge normative narratives that sugarcoat dying and death
- How asking how a person wants to talk about terminal illness is better than assuming
Louise Bolotin's Facebook and LinkedIn statements
If you want to see how our guest and edibuddy talks about her cancer diagnosis and the language that surrounds it, or follow her Last Hurrah, take a look at these announcements, threads and pics on social media.
- Facebook: The Last Hurrah album
- Facebook: Statement about cancer diagnosis and language
- LinkedIn: Announcement about cancer diagnosis and language
Join our Patreon community
If you'd like to support The Editing Podcast, thank you! That means the world to us.
Music credit
‘Vivacity’ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Summary of Episode 90
Want to add subediting to your editorial skillset? Louise Bolotin has been subbing for 17 years and knows the job inside out. In this episode, she shares her knowledge and experience. Listen to find out more about:
- What the different types of editors do in media publishing
- The differences between subediting and copyediting
- Editorial timescales for subeditors
- Who controls the content
- When things go wrong - legal responsibilities and insurance
- Subediting lingo
- A subeditor’s typical day
- Transferring from copyediting to subediting - training and CPD
- Core resources for the budding subber
- How editing has changed over the years, especially for freelancers
Resources mentioned in the show
Join our Patreon community
If you'd like to support The Editing Podcast, thank you! That means the world to us.
Music credit
‘Vivacity’ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Summary of Episode 89
Want to know more about editing academic book proposals? Laura Portwood-Stacer discusses what it involves and how to develop your skills. Listen to find out more about:
- What is an academic book proposal?
- How and why editors can get involved
- The types of work and the kinds of editing editors carry out
- How academic book proposals differ from other types of book proposals
- Who evaluates academic book proposals and what they're looking for
- The key elements of an academic book proposal
- Which elements authors typically need most help with
- The contextual information editors need to gather from an author
- How editors can learn about this type of work: The Book Proposal Book
Learn how to edit book proposals
- Contact Laura: manuscriptworks.com and lauraportwoodstacer.com
- Read The Book Proposal Book: manuscriptworks.com/book
- Train as an academic developmental editor: courses.manuscriptworks.com
- 10% discount coupon for course: EDITINGPODCAST
Join our Patreon community
If you'd like to support The Editing Podcast, thank you! That means the world to us. There are two tiers to choose from:
- EditPod Tea Pot: Buy us a cuppa and help keep the podcast ad-free and independent.
- EditPod Tea Party: All of the above, plus you get exclusive access to quarterly live Q&As that help you keep your business on track.
Music credit
‘Vivacity’ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Summary of Episode 88
Think proofreading or editing would be a good side hustle? Two professional editors tell you what you need to know so you don't make mistakes. Listen to find out more about:
- What a side hustle is and why it's popular
- Why there's resistance to the term 'side hustle' in the professional editorial community
- Whether an editorial business can be set up overnight
- The importance of skilling up and marketing
- The competition side hustlers have to deal with
- The different levels of editing
- How to find work
- Business-critical considerations
Join our Patreon community
If you'd like to support The Editing Podcast, thank you! That means the world to us. There are two tiers to choose from:
- EditPod Tea Pot: Buy us a cuppa and help keep the podcast ad-free and independent.
- EditPod Tea Party: All of the above, plus you get exclusive access to quarterly live Q&As that help you keep your business on track.
Music credit
‘Vivacity’ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Want to know more about academic developmental editing? Laura Portwood-Stacer discusses what it involves and how to develop your skills.
Summary of Episode 87
In this episode, Louise and Denise chat with Laura Portwood-Stacer about:
- What academic developmental editing is
- Required skills and background
- Why academic authors seek help from developmental editors
- What do academic developmental editors do?
- Why it's different from other types of non-fiction editing
- The benefits to editors of offering an academic developmental editing service
- How academic developmental editors find clients
- Training and resources for academic developmental editors
Useful links and resources
Join our Patreon community
If you'd like to support The Editing Podcast, thank you! That means the world to us. There are two tiers to choose from:
- EditPod Tea Pot: Buy us a cuppa and help keep the podcast ad-free and independent.
- EditPod Tea Party: All of the above, plus you get exclusive access to quarterly live Q&As that help you keep your business on track.
Music credit
‘Vivacity’ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Thinking about writing a book for editors and proofreaders? Find out how Brittany Dowdle and Linda Ruggeri navigated their authorial collaboration.
Summary of Episode 86
In this episode, Louise, Denise and their guests chat about:
- Networking for Freelance Editors: Intended readership
- Challenging assumptions about networking
- Why write a book?
- Writing for editors: The burden of scrutiny
- Co-authorship: Syncing schedules
- Working efficiently and productively
- The power of collaboration
- The importance of trust in a writing partnership
- Book-creation process: Beyond writing
- Tips for editors who want to write a book
Useful links and resources
- Find out more about the book: Networking for Freelance Editors
- The Networking for Freelance Editors website
- FREE downloadable networking worksheets
- Contact Brittany Dowdle
- Contact Linda Ruggeri
Join our Patreon community
If you'd like to support The Editing Podcast, thank you! That means the world to us. There are two tiers to choose from:
- EditPod Tea Pot: Buy us a cuppa and help keep the podcast ad-free and independent.
- EditPod Tea Party: All of the above, plus you get exclusive access to quarterly live Q&As that help you keep your business on track.
Music credit
‘Vivacity’ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Find out why you need a website if you want your editing or proofreading business to be visible and verifiable.
Summary of Episode 85
In this episode, Louise and Denise chat about:
- Why you need a website even if you work only with publishers and packagers
- Why editorial directories aren't enough
- Why word of mouth has limitations
- How clients use websites for quality control
- Why a website future-proofs your business
- Current audience expectations around professionalism
- Websites versus social media presence
- Controlling your own land
- Creating a branded digital space
- Competing with colleagues who have websites
Join our Patreon community
If you'd like to support The Editing Podcast, thank you! That means the world to us. There are two tiers to choose from:
- EditPod Tea Pot: Buy us a cuppa and help keep the podcast ad-free and independent.
- EditPod Tea Party: All of the above, plus you get exclusive access to quarterly live Q&As that help you keep your business on track.
Music credit
‘Vivacity’ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Craft a website that gets you work!
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Want to learn how to craft a standout editorial website that makes you visible in the search engines and compels your ideal clients to hire you?
Check out Editor Website Essentials, my flagship online training course created just for editors and proofreaders. |
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Learn about the power of networking with Brittany Dowdle and Linda Ruggeri, two professional editors who've honed the art of building relationships and exchanging ideas to grow their businesses.
Summary of Episode 84
Brittany Dowdle and Linda Ruggeri chat with Louise and Denise about:
- Networking for Freelance Editors (book)
- Personality types and networking
- Positive outcomes from networking
- Organic vs salesy approaches to networking
- The power of volunteering
- Top tips for networking
Useful links and resources
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Join our Patreon community
If you'd like to support The Editing Podcast, thank you! That means the world to us. There are two tiers to choose from:
- EditPod Tea Pot: Buy us a cuppa and help keep the podcast ad-free and independent.
- EditPod Tea Party: All of the above, plus you get exclusive access to quarterly live Q&As that help you keep your business on track.
Music credit
‘Vivacity’ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Discover 3 actions you can take to improve the design of your editorial website and that can be implemented within only 24 hours.
Summary of Episode 83
Denise and I chat about how editors and proofreaders can improve the user experience on their websites with 3 easy-to-implement actions. Listen to find out more about:
- Navigation buttons
- Paragraph headings
- Short paragraphs
Join our Patreon community
If you'd like to support The Editing Podcast, thank you! That means the world to us. There are two tiers to choose from:
- EditPod Tea Pot: Buy us a cuppa and help keep the podcast ad-free and independent.
- EditPod Tea Party: All of the above, plus you get exclusive access to quarterly live Q&As that help you keep your business on track.
Music credit
‘Vivacity’ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Craft a website that gets you work!
|
Want to craft a standout editorial website that makes you visible in the search engines and compels your ideal clients to hire you? Check out Editor Website Essentials, my flagship online training course created just for editors and proofreaders.
|
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Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Improve your understanding of microaggressions during the editing process and how to serve your author well regardless of your own identity and lived experience.
Summary of Episode 82
Crystal Shelley joins Louise and Denise to talk about how editors can improve their professional practice by being aware of microaggressions. Here's a summary of what we chat about:
- What microaggressions are
- Microaggressions in editing
- Why microaggressions occur during the editing process
- How microaggressions affect writers
- Why it's important for editors to know about microaggressions
- How editors can avoid doing this type of harm in their work
- How editors can learn about what they don’t know
Join our Patreon community
If you'd like to support The Editing Podcast, thank you! That means the world to us. There are two tiers to choose from:
- EditPod Tea Pot: Buy us a cuppa and help keep the podcast ad-free and independent.
- EditPod Tea Party: All of the above plus you get exclusive access to quarterly live Q&As that help you keep your business on track.
Resources mentioned in the show
- Conscious Style Guide
- Crystal Shelley, Rabbit with a Red Pen
- Fuhrmann, Henry, ‘Drop the hyphen in Asian American’, Conscious Style Guide, 2018
- King, Ruth, Mindful of Race: Understanding and Transforming Habits of Harm: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out, Sounds True Inc, 2018
Music credit
‘Vivacity’ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Learn about 5 things you can do to give your editing and proofreading business a new-year polish.
Listen to find out more about:
- How to be the editor who says, 'It's down to me.'
- Reviewing which changes you can make to your business.
- How to measure your editorial-business success fairly.
- Organizational tips to help you track, plan and schedule.
- Creating templates and resources that will save you time.
Join our Patreon community
If you'd like to support The Editing Podcast, thank you! That means the world to us. There are two tiers to choose from:
- EditPod Tea Pot: Buy us a cuppa and help keep the podcast ad-free and independent.
- EditPod Tea Party: All of the above plus you get exclusive access to quarterly live Q&As that help you keep your business on track.
Music credit
‘Vivacity’ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Find out more about the new broadcast schedule for The Editing Podcast and how you can join our community and access quarterly live Zoom Q&As!
Summary of Episode 80
- Our brand-new year-round fortnightly broadcasting schedule
- The Editing Podcast audience stats
- How to support us via Patreon
- How to join an exclusive community with access to quarterly live Zoom Q&As
Join our exclusive Patreon community
We’re so grateful for all the kind messages of support we’ve received over the years, including some that asked offered to buy us a cup of tea or coffee as a thank-you.
In response to that, we've now set up a Patreon community with two tiers.
In response to that, we've now set up a Patreon community with two tiers.
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Tier 1: EditPod Tea Pot
Perhaps you’d like to buy us a pot of tea to help fuel us during the writing and recording process! 
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Tier 2: EditPod Tea Party
Or for just a few quid more, meet and chat with us live during our quarterly tea parties. 
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With the tea-party tier, you’ll receive exclusive invitations every 3 months to join us on Zoom for an hour’s conversation about topics related to editing and running an editorial business.
Ask questions, get guidance on how to solve your editorial business problems, or just sit back and soak up the chat.
Music credit
‘Vivacity’ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Fancy treating yourself in the run-up to the holidays? You can save a whopping 30% on any course you buy from me between now and 24 December 2021.
To get your festive savings, enter the coupon code CRACKER2021 at checkout.
To get your festive savings, enter the coupon code CRACKER2021 at checkout.
Which courses are included?
The special offer applies to all my online courses. Everything I teach is based on my own practical experience, so I know it works.
Here's a whistle-stop tour of what's available.
EDITORIAL BUSINESS GROWTH COURSES
FICTION EDITING COURSES
COURSES FOR WRITERS
The coupon code is CRACKER2021 and expires on 24 December 2021.
Here's a whistle-stop tour of what's available.
EDITORIAL BUSINESS GROWTH COURSES
- Create a unique editorial brand identity with Branding for Business Growth.
- Craft a powerful, branded website that entices clients with Editor Website Essentials.
- Power up your promotion game with the Marketing Toolbox for Editors.
- Master the art of content that creates work leads with Blogging for Business Growth.
- Learn how to secure work fast with 10 Ways to Get Editing Work Quickly.
- Develop a social media strategy that increases visibility with Social Media for Business Growth.
- Find out how to create great content that gets you seen and saves you time with To Visibility and Beyond.
FICTION EDITING COURSES
- Write gorgeous reports that serve your clients and your business with How to Write the Perfect Fiction Editorial Report.
- Find out how to become a fiction editor with Switching to Fiction.
- Recognize and control psychic distance in your editing practice with Narrative Distance: A Toolbox for Writers and Editors.
COURSES FOR WRITERS
- Recognize and control psychic distance in your writing practice with Narrative Distance: A Toolbox for Writers and Editors.
- Learn 11 pithy line-editing tips that make a substantive difference to writing flow and reader experience with Preparing Your Book for Submission.
The coupon code is CRACKER2021 and expires on 24 December 2021.
Thank you for reading The Editing Blog, listening to The Editing Podcast with me and Denise, and just being there as friends and colleagues during another challenging year. You're all stars!
I wish you all the best for the rest of 2021 and the new year ahead.
I wish you all the best for the rest of 2021 and the new year ahead.
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
A common stumbling block for editorial business owners is making time for marketing. Here’s why we must make time, and some resources to help you organize your business-promotion schedule.
What’s in this post …
Read on to find out more about:
- Why running a business means finding clients
- Working for others – being an employee
- Working on your business and in your business
- Setting up a business and marketing: The order of play
- Shifting from a no-time mindset to an all-the-time mindset
- Taking a strategic approach to marketing
Why running a business means finding clients
Every time an editor or proofreader says they don’t have time to build and implement a marketing strategy, they’re saying they don’t have time to find work.
None of us can run a business if there’s no business to run. Editing and proofreading work is essential. Otherwise we’re nothing more than a fancy title on a business card.
If marketing isn’t a part of your business model, it’s time either to work for someone else or shift your mindset.
None of us can run a business if there’s no business to run. Editing and proofreading work is essential. Otherwise we’re nothing more than a fancy title on a business card.
If marketing isn’t a part of your business model, it’s time either to work for someone else or shift your mindset.
Working for others – being an employee
There’s nothing wrong with being an employee. For some it’s a more suitable career choice. Unless you apply for a job in the marketing department, it will be someone else’s responsibility to do the company’s promotional work, to pull in the clients.
If you want to do your own thing, however, a commitment to business marketing must be part of the mix. That’s the difference between being self-employed and self-unemployed.
If you want to do your own thing, however, a commitment to business marketing must be part of the mix. That’s the difference between being self-employed and self-unemployed.
Working on your business and in your business
Every independent editorial business owner has two jobs:
There’s no way around this. The approach we use to find work will depend on who our target clients are. Think social media, content marketing, advertising, directory listings, professional membership, a visible website, letters, emails, networking, phone calls, and SEO. All or some of these will be in play.
If a no-time mindset is tripping you up, ask yourself whether you can imagine saying any of the following:
Those statements sound daft, don’t they? Of course we’d make time for editing, invoicing and checking spelling! We’re professionals and we’re business owners – those things are essential.
Finding work is just as important. If we don’t, there’s no editing to do, no invoices to send, no spellings to check.
Since we’re employers (of ourselves), not employees, we must do our own marketing, right from the get-go, and continue to do it for as long as we’re in business.
- The work they do
- And the work they do to get the work they do
There’s no way around this. The approach we use to find work will depend on who our target clients are. Think social media, content marketing, advertising, directory listings, professional membership, a visible website, letters, emails, networking, phone calls, and SEO. All or some of these will be in play.
If a no-time mindset is tripping you up, ask yourself whether you can imagine saying any of the following:
- I don’t have time to do editing.
- I don’t have time to send invoices.
- I don’t have time to check the spelling of a word in a dictionary.
Those statements sound daft, don’t they? Of course we’d make time for editing, invoicing and checking spelling! We’re professionals and we’re business owners – those things are essential.
Finding work is just as important. If we don’t, there’s no editing to do, no invoices to send, no spellings to check.
Since we’re employers (of ourselves), not employees, we must do our own marketing, right from the get-go, and continue to do it for as long as we’re in business.
Setting up a business and marketing: The order of play
Marketing doesn’t come after we’ve set up our business. That’s a misfire. It views marketing as if it’s a separate entity.
If we spend 12 months training to be a professional editor but dedicate no time to our marketing strategy, all we’ll have at the end is a skillset that’s invisible to everyone but us.
I know how to make lasagne, change a tyre, and remove a thorn from a Labrador’s paw, but those skills in themselves don’t mean people are offering me work as a chef, a mechanic or a veterinary nurse. Why would they? No one but me, my husband, my kid and my dog know I can do that stuff. I’ve not promoted those skills or set up a business around them (nor do I plan to, just in case you’re wondering!).
If you’re serious about becoming a professional editor, so much so that you’ve invested your hard-earned cash in a high-quality training course, start working on your marketing strategy at the same time so that you don’t end up as a professional thumb-twiddler!
If we spend 12 months training to be a professional editor but dedicate no time to our marketing strategy, all we’ll have at the end is a skillset that’s invisible to everyone but us.
I know how to make lasagne, change a tyre, and remove a thorn from a Labrador’s paw, but those skills in themselves don’t mean people are offering me work as a chef, a mechanic or a veterinary nurse. Why would they? No one but me, my husband, my kid and my dog know I can do that stuff. I’ve not promoted those skills or set up a business around them (nor do I plan to, just in case you’re wondering!).
If you’re serious about becoming a professional editor, so much so that you’ve invested your hard-earned cash in a high-quality training course, start working on your marketing strategy at the same time so that you don’t end up as a professional thumb-twiddler!
Shifting from a no-time mindset to an all-the-time mindset
Whatever marketing approach(es) you choose, do them regularly so that they’re a normal part of editorial business ownership.
Invoicing and tax returns are my least favourite aspects of running a business but I do them anyway. I have to. We all do.
Same thing with marketing. You don’t have to love marketing. You don’t even have to like it. Just do it anyway, all the time. Dedicate time in your business week to the task.
Every time you’re tempted to use that slot in your schedule to do something else, remind yourself that you don’t want to be self-unemployed, that you do want to earn a living from your editing business, and that when the client cupboard is bare it makes you feel miserable and stressed.
Invoicing and tax returns are my least favourite aspects of running a business but I do them anyway. I have to. We all do.
Same thing with marketing. You don’t have to love marketing. You don’t even have to like it. Just do it anyway, all the time. Dedicate time in your business week to the task.
Every time you’re tempted to use that slot in your schedule to do something else, remind yourself that you don’t want to be self-unemployed, that you do want to earn a living from your editing business, and that when the client cupboard is bare it makes you feel miserable and stressed.
Taking a strategic approach to marketing
Here are three things every editor needs to recognize about strategy:
A long-term marketing strategy is planned, targeted, and implemented continuously. That’s what keeps the cupboard full of good-fit clients, and what gives us the power to decide a project’s not a good fit, the price isn’t right, or the scheduling’s too tight.
- ‘I'd better do a bit of marketing because I’ve got no work lined up next month’ is not a strategy. It’s an emergency.
- ‘Great! I just got some work for next month so I don’t have to do any marketing for a while’ is not a strategy. It’s a recipe for a future emergency.
- ‘I’ll accept that horrible low-paid job because it’s better than nothing’ is not a strategy. It’s a business model that puts others in control.
A long-term marketing strategy is planned, targeted, and implemented continuously. That’s what keeps the cupboard full of good-fit clients, and what gives us the power to decide a project’s not a good fit, the price isn’t right, or the scheduling’s too tight.
Summing up
If you’re already marketing your editing business, fantastic. If you’re not, start now and don’t stop!
You don’t have to do your marketing the way I do my marketing. The foundation of my strategy is content marketing, but that’s because I work exclusively with independent authors in a specialist genre, and want those authors to find me via Google.
Your marketing strategy should reflect the best method of being visible to your ideal clients. That might mean sending emails, making phones calls, engaging in a group or forum, or advertising in a particular space.
And even if you don’t like marketing, make it part of your business practice anyway. Place it alongside the other aspects of your business that you’re obliged to do but would rather not. Why? Because marketing can mean the difference between working and walking away. If you’ve already invested your energy and money in training, that’s a waste of your valuable skills. You deserve more than that.
And who knows? You might even enjoy promoting your business once you start reaping the fruits of your labour!
You don’t have to do your marketing the way I do my marketing. The foundation of my strategy is content marketing, but that’s because I work exclusively with independent authors in a specialist genre, and want those authors to find me via Google.
Your marketing strategy should reflect the best method of being visible to your ideal clients. That might mean sending emails, making phones calls, engaging in a group or forum, or advertising in a particular space.
And even if you don’t like marketing, make it part of your business practice anyway. Place it alongside the other aspects of your business that you’re obliged to do but would rather not. Why? Because marketing can mean the difference between working and walking away. If you’ve already invested your energy and money in training, that’s a waste of your valuable skills. You deserve more than that.
And who knows? You might even enjoy promoting your business once you start reaping the fruits of your labour!
More marketing resources
Check out these additional resources about building a sustainable editorial business:
- Blogging for Business Growth (course)
- Branding for Business Growth (course)
- Business Skills Collection (6 ebooks)
- Marketing resource library (books, booklets and blogs and podcasts)
- Marketing Toolbox for Editors (multimedia course)
- Marketing Your Editing and Proofreading Business (book)
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Does ‘said’ come before or after the subject in a dialogue tag? Does it matter? This post explores the options and offers practical recommendations that serve writers seeking to build their author platform.
In this post ...
Read on to find out more about the following:
- What a dialogue tag is
- Why tags should support, not supplant dialogue
- Tagging: Positioning the verb in relation to pronouns
- Tagging: Positioning the verb in relation to nouns
- Standing out in ways that serve reader expectations
What a dialogue tag is
A dialogue tag, or speech tag, is the short piece of text that tells a reader that a character is speaking, and which character is speaking. For example:
Effective dialogue tags use verbs from which the reader can infer that the action of speech is taking place. Examples include ‘said’, ‘asked’, ‘replied’, ‘whispered’, ‘muttered’, ‘yelled’, ‘continued’ and ‘added’.
Ineffective dialogue tags use verbs that bring to mind action that’s not related precisely to speech but to some other behaviour. Examples include ‘sneered’, ‘grimaced’, ‘laughed’, ‘harrumphed’, ‘huffed’, ‘sighed’, ‘snarled’ and ‘urged’.
In this post, I’m going to focus on a question that beginner fiction authors and editors often ask about: where to locate ‘said’ and other effective tagging verbs.
First, though, here’s a quick recap about why ‘said’ is such a popular dialogue tag.
- ‘Are you enjoying reading that blog post,’ Louise said.
- ‘I’m interested in learning about dialogue,’ ze replied.
- ‘Can I stick to non-fiction editing?’ he asked.
Effective dialogue tags use verbs from which the reader can infer that the action of speech is taking place. Examples include ‘said’, ‘asked’, ‘replied’, ‘whispered’, ‘muttered’, ‘yelled’, ‘continued’ and ‘added’.
Ineffective dialogue tags use verbs that bring to mind action that’s not related precisely to speech but to some other behaviour. Examples include ‘sneered’, ‘grimaced’, ‘laughed’, ‘harrumphed’, ‘huffed’, ‘sighed’, ‘snarled’ and ‘urged’.
In this post, I’m going to focus on a question that beginner fiction authors and editors often ask about: where to locate ‘said’ and other effective tagging verbs.
First, though, here’s a quick recap about why ‘said’ is such a popular dialogue tag.
Why tags should support, not supplant dialogue
‘Said’ is the most popular speech tag in English-language writing because it’s virtually invisible. Readers are so used to seeing it that they ignore it and instead focus on its mechanical function – to verify who’s doing the speaking.
It’s become so conventional that when authors go out of their way to replace every instance of ‘said’ with alternatives, they risk creating prose that feels laboured.
Showy speech tags in particular stand out, and that means they pull the reader’s attention away from the dialogue and push it towards the speech tag.
That’s not a good reader experience because when characters communicate through speech, that’s where the action is in that moment. The tag should support that action, not supplant it.
You can find out more about how to tag dialogue in Editing Fiction at Sentence Level, including:
Now let’s look at where to place ‘said’ and other tagging verbs.
It’s become so conventional that when authors go out of their way to replace every instance of ‘said’ with alternatives, they risk creating prose that feels laboured.
Showy speech tags in particular stand out, and that means they pull the reader’s attention away from the dialogue and push it towards the speech tag.
That’s not a good reader experience because when characters communicate through speech, that’s where the action is in that moment. The tag should support that action, not supplant it.
You can find out more about how to tag dialogue in Editing Fiction at Sentence Level, including:
- Showy speech tags and underdeveloped dialogue
- Showy speech tags and double-telling
- Non-speech-based dialogue tags and the reality flop
- Alternatives to showy speech tags – more on action beats
- Using proper nouns and pronouns in dialogue tags
- Omitting dialogue tags
Now let’s look at where to place ‘said’ and other tagging verbs.
Tagging: Positioning the verb in relation to pronouns
Regardless of which pronouns are in play, it’s conventional in contemporary commercial fiction to place ‘said’ or any other tagging verb after the pronoun. Take a look at what’s on your bookshelf. Examples are easy to find. Here are some from my collection.
- “I know,” she says. “I’m violating the cardinal rule of family night.” (Crouch: Dark Matter)
- ‘I could do your job myself, if that’s what you mean,’ he’d said at last. (Herron: Slough House)
- “I don’t have no fucking mask,” he said. (Connelly: The Dark Hours)
- “Me and Jaymie will call it. You want your boy to go too?” he said. (Crosby: Blacktop Wasteland)
Let’s have a look at those examples when the verb is placed before the pronouns.
- “I know,” says she. “I’m violating the cardinal rule of family night.”
- ‘I could do your job myself, if that’s what you mean,’ said he at last.
- “I don’t have no fucking mask,” said he.
- “Me and Jaymie will call it. You want your boy to go too?” said he.
There’s actually nothing grammatically wrong with any of the edited examples, though I wasn't able to retain the past perfect in the second. What has gone awry is the narrative setting.
The dialogue is written in contemporary English but the verb placement evokes a distinctly historical feel that’s inappropriate.
So how about when nouns rather than pronouns are in play?
Tagging: Positioning the verb in relation to nouns
Authors published by mainstream presses tend to follow the same convention: the verb follows the noun. Once more, a visit to your bookshelf will confirm the frequency in contemporary commercial fiction. Here are some more examples from my collection.
- “There was nothing you could have done,” Judith said. (Coben: Fool Me Once)
- ‘Are you feeling the cold?’ Danny asked. (McDermid: 1979)
- “Sir, I can’t help you until you get a mask,” Moore said. (Connelly: The Dark Hours)
- “The question is, do you have the balls to back it up?” Kelvin said. (Crosby: Blacktop Wasteland)
Now let’s move the verb so that it sits before the noun.
- “There was nothing you could have done,” said Judith.
- ‘Are you feeling the cold?’ asked Danny.
- “Sir, I can’t help you until you get a mask,” said Moore.
- “The question is, do you have the balls to back it up?” said Kelvin.
Again, there’s nothing grammatically problematic about this structure. Furthermore, the switch doesn’t jar in the same way as when the subjects are pronouns.
So how should independent authors (and the editors who support them) approach the structure of a tag?
Standing out in ways that serve reader expectations
I recommend my authors follow the noun-first convention, not because it’s right, or best, or grammatically correct, or the only one true way, but because when it comes to contemporary commercial fiction:
When readers are presented with stories that break with convention, there’s a risk that the story’s no longer the standout feature. Instead, those with strong preferences focus on minutiae that challenge their expectations.
That focus isn’t serving a writer who’s trying to build their author platform.
Mick Herron has built enough trust with his readership with his brilliant Jackson Lamb series that no one will bat an eyelid when they read the following in Slough House:
‘Ian Fleming,’ said Diana Taverner. ‘Means “Death to spies”.’
Nevertheless, I scoured the first chapter of that book and found that in the main he still favours placing the verb after the subject.
- lots of potential buyers of their books have come to expect this construction
- and it's the approach that mainstream presses tend to take.
When readers are presented with stories that break with convention, there’s a risk that the story’s no longer the standout feature. Instead, those with strong preferences focus on minutiae that challenge their expectations.
That focus isn’t serving a writer who’s trying to build their author platform.
Mick Herron has built enough trust with his readership with his brilliant Jackson Lamb series that no one will bat an eyelid when they read the following in Slough House:
‘Ian Fleming,’ said Diana Taverner. ‘Means “Death to spies”.’
Nevertheless, I scoured the first chapter of that book and found that in the main he still favours placing the verb after the subject.
Summing up
Placing ‘said’ and other speech-related verbs after the subject isn’t a ‘rule’ that must be applied in order to ensure a dialogue tag is grammatically correct.
However, it’s such a common convention that I recommend indie authors of contemporary commercial fiction follow it.
When the subjects in a tag are pronouns, this structure is essential for retaining a contemporary feel. When the subjects are nouns, placing them first gives the pedants one less thing to gripe about.
However, it’s such a common convention that I recommend indie authors of contemporary commercial fiction follow it.
When the subjects in a tag are pronouns, this structure is essential for retaining a contemporary feel. When the subjects are nouns, placing them first gives the pedants one less thing to gripe about.
Related reading and training
- Coben, H., Fool Me Once, Arrow, 2016 (Chapter 1, Kindle edition)
- Connelly, M, The Dark Hours, Orion, 2021 (Chapter 1, Kindle edition)
- Crosby, SA, Blacktop Wasteland, Headline, 2021 (Chapter 1, Kindle edition)
- Crouch, B, Dark Matter, Pan, 2017 (Chapter 1, Kindle edition)
- Harnby, L, Editing Fiction at Sentence Level, Panx Press, 2020
- Herron, M, Slough House, John Murray, 2021 (Chapter 1, Kindle edition)
- McDermid, V, 1979, Little, Brown, 2021 (Chapter 1, Kindle edition)
Fiction editing training courses
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Are your thriller’s sentences front-loaded with filter words? If so, you could be slowing your reader down. This post explains what filter words are, how they affect a sentence and how to decide whether to include them or ditch them.
What’s in this post ...
Read on to find out more about:
- Why the start of a sentence is important.
- What filter words are.
- How filter words reduce momentum.
- How filter words make space for reflection.
Why the start of a sentence is important
If you’ve read any guidance about online writing, you’ll have come across the concept of front-loading a sentence. It means putting the most important stuff at the start. The idea is that website visitors are busy and scan for relevance. The quicker they find it, the more likely they are to engage.
While a novel that reads like a Google snippet from start to finish isn’t likely to win any prizes, the principle is worth paying attention to because the information at the start of a novel’s sentence is still what the reader will pay most attention to.
The start of a sentence is therefore valuable real estate. If filter words are being assigned to that top spot too often, more interesting subjects and verbs are likely being demoted.
While a novel that reads like a Google snippet from start to finish isn’t likely to win any prizes, the principle is worth paying attention to because the information at the start of a novel’s sentence is still what the reader will pay most attention to.
The start of a sentence is therefore valuable real estate. If filter words are being assigned to that top spot too often, more interesting subjects and verbs are likely being demoted.
What are filter words?
In everyday speech, we sometimes use the term ‘filter’ to convey a sense of slowdown or separation, usually because of a barrier of some sort. For example:
In literature, filter words are verbs that do a similar thing – they slow down the reader’s access to what the viewpoint character is experiencing.
Examples include 'watched', 'saw', 'noticed', 'spotted', 'looked at', 'felt', 'thought', 'wondered', 'heard', 'realised' and 'knew'.
Take a look at this short excerpt from Chapter 2 of Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby.
- Sunlight filtered through the tree canopy.
- Over the next couple of hours, information about the explosion filtered out of the camp.
- The children filtered through the turnstile and lined up in in yard.
In literature, filter words are verbs that do a similar thing – they slow down the reader’s access to what the viewpoint character is experiencing.
Examples include 'watched', 'saw', 'noticed', 'spotted', 'looked at', 'felt', 'thought', 'wondered', 'heard', 'realised' and 'knew'.
Take a look at this short excerpt from Chapter 2 of Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby.
|
Ike Randolph let go of his wife's hand. She slumped against him. |
Ike is the viewpoint character, which means we experience the scene from his perspective.
Notice first what’s front-loading those two sentences. The subjects (Ike in the first, ‘she’ – Ike’s wife – in the second) and the verbs ‘let go’ and ‘slumped’.
That front-loading forces our gaze outwards – first towards Ike, then towards the movement of Ike’s wife’s body.
Now let’s introduce a filter word.
Ike Randolph let go of his wife's hand. He watched as she slumped against him.
Now the second sentence is front-loaded with a new verb – ‘watched’. Our access to the movement (the slumping) has been slowed down. We can’t shift directly to it without taking an extra step that involves centring our gaze for just a second on Ike’s watching.
In that brief moment, we’re no longer looking outward at what Ike’s experiencing. Instead, we’re looking inward at Ike and how he acquires that experience – by watching.
Less experienced writers can be tempted to overuse filter words. Indeed, it’s one of the most common problems I see in my editing studio. At sentence-level revision stage – whether that work’s being done by the writer themselves or with the help of a professional editor – it’s therefore worth watching out for them and assessing whether they’re impeding the novel’s pace.
When filter words reduce momentum
Thrillers are supposed to thrill, and action-packed scenes such as escapes, fights, heists and chases need to be written with razor-sharp precision so that readers don’t start skimming.
Problematic filter words can appear anywhere in a sentence, but front-loading sentences with them is even more likely to rip the momentum out of the prose. If you want your readers to focus on the action, make sure that any you retain are earning their keep.
Take a look at an excerpt from a published thriller that I’ve fiddled with. It’s a heist scene and the action takes place in a matter of seconds. The viewpoint character is coked up to his eyeballs and desperate, acting on impulse.
Problematic filter words can appear anywhere in a sentence, but front-loading sentences with them is even more likely to rip the momentum out of the prose. If you want your readers to focus on the action, make sure that any you retain are earning their keep.
Take a look at an excerpt from a published thriller that I’ve fiddled with. It’s a heist scene and the action takes place in a matter of seconds. The viewpoint character is coked up to his eyeballs and desperate, acting on impulse.
He knew that under normal circumstances he would never put his hands on a lady. However, these were not normal circumstances. Not, he thought, by a long shot.
Ronnie struck the manager just above her right eye with the butt of the .38. He watched as a divot the width of a popsicle stick appeared above her eye. Blood spewed from the wound like water from a broken faucet.
Ronnie struck the manager just above her right eye with the butt of the .38. He watched as a divot the width of a popsicle stick appeared above her eye. Blood spewed from the wound like water from a broken faucet.
The three instances of filtering moderate the pace and draw our attention towards the narrator’s doing knowing, thinking and watching, none of which are as interesting as what he knows, thinks and watches. All those filter words act as barriers that the reader has to jump over in order to get to the action.
We could even argue that they introduce a sort of voyeurism – as if Ronnie is reflecting on the impact of his violence, almost in slow motion. But that’s not what’s going on here. Rather, he’s wired, out of control and operating in the moment.
And that’s why the unadulterated version of Blacktop Wasteland (p. 113) – also by S.A. Cosby – is perfect:
|
Under normal circumstances he would never put his hands on a lady. However, these were not normal circumstances. Not by a long shot.
Ronnie struck the manager just above her right eye with the butt of the .38. A divot the width of a popsicle stick appeared above her eye. Blood spewed from the wound like water from a broken faucet. |
The filter words have gone, and with them the unintended pathological introspection, but the momentum is restored. We're in the moment with Ronnie as he lashes out. It's no less violent but the pace of the prose now mirrors the action authentically.
When filter words make space for reflection
Sometimes, however, the author wants us to slow down, step back and focus inward on the acquisition of experience.
Let’s take a look at another example from Cosby’s Razorblade Tears, this one also from Chapter 2.
Let’s take a look at another example from Cosby’s Razorblade Tears, this one also from Chapter 2.
The little girl sitting in her lap played with Mya's braids. Ike looked at the girl. Skin the color of honey with hair to match. Arianna had just turned three the week before her parents died. Did she have any inkling of what was happening? When Mya had told her that her daddies were asleep, she seemed to accept it without too much trouble. He envied the elasticity of her mind. She could wrap her head around this in a way that he couldn't.
The filter phrase is ‘looked at’, and it’s important. Ike is looking hard at what’s in front of him. As will be revealed later, this girl is his murdered son’s daughter. Ike recalls something he’d said to his son a few months earlier: ‘But that little girl, she gonna have it hard enough already. She's half Black. Her mama was somebody you paid to carry her, and she got two gay daddies. So now what?’
Ike and his wife will now be raising the little girl. Cosby wants to focus our attention inward for a moment on Ike’s reflection, and the filter word makes space for that.
While filter words can be effective when they’re used to create a sense of introspection, littering prose with them will be disruptive and pull the reader out of the viewpoint character's headspace. In other words, the psychic or narrative distance will be widened and we’ll feel disconnected from the immediacy of the character’s experience.
For that reason, always use filter words judiciously. In the above example, Cosby offers just a single nudge, and it’s enough.
Summing up
Every filter word needs to be assessed on its own merits. Some will have a place in a novel because the author wants to introduce a sense of introspection into a viewpoint character’s narrative. Just bear in mind the following:
- When filter words front-load a sentence, they’re the first thing a reader notices.
- They destroy momentum and so are often best avoided in pacy action scenes, regardless of their position.
- And even if they do serve a purpose – focusing a reader’s attention inwards on how the viewpoint character acquires the experience they’re reporting (by looking, thinking, feeling etc.) – it's worth keeping their use to a bare minimum. One nudge will likely be enough.
Further reading
Take a look at these related resources for editors and writers. They'll help you develop your fiction line craft:
- For editors: Fiction editing learning centre
- For authors: Line craft learning centre
- Becoming a Fiction Editor (free booklet for editors)
- Blacktop Wasteland, Cosby, S.A., Headline, 2020
- Editing Fiction at Sentence Level (book for editors and authors)
- Filter words in fiction: Purposeful inclusion and dramatic restriction (blog post)
- Making Sense of ‘Show, Don’t Tell’ (book for editors and authors)
- Narrative Distance: A Toolbox for Writers and Editors (course)
- Razorblade Tears, Cosby, S.A., Headline, 2021
- Switching to Fiction (course for editors)
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Here are 6 tips that will help emerging indie authors make informed decisions about their editing and writing process during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and beyond.
1. Understand the different types of editing
Regardless of whether an author’s doing their own editing or working with someone like me, I always advise them to make sure they understand the different levels of editing and the order of play.
The first draft of a book is unlikely to be ready for proofreading. Instead, focus on structure first – so how the story hangs together as a whole.
Next comes stylistic line work that focuses on the flow and rhythm of prose.
Copyediting comes after that. This is the more technical side of the work that looks at consistency and clarity.
Only then is it time for the quality-control stage: proofreading.
Writers who want to know more can watch a video, listen to a podcast episode or download a booklet.
The first draft of a book is unlikely to be ready for proofreading. Instead, focus on structure first – so how the story hangs together as a whole.
Next comes stylistic line work that focuses on the flow and rhythm of prose.
Copyediting comes after that. This is the more technical side of the work that looks at consistency and clarity.
Only then is it time for the quality-control stage: proofreading.
Writers who want to know more can watch a video, listen to a podcast episode or download a booklet.
2. Top tools and methods for writers on a budget
To make the most of your budget, focus on the five Cs:
Community
Take a look at the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) and the Society of Authors. They’re two fine examples of organizations who are dedicated to supporting writers at different stages of their journey.
Membership includes access to free and affordable paid-for events and resources. But they offer something else that’s incredibly valuable too – a network of like-minded people.
Trying to make your mark in the publishing world can feel overwhelming, so being able to get advice and inspiration from others on the same journey is priceless.
Content
There’s a ton of useful – and free – guidance about the craft of writing online, so it’s worth budget-sensitive writers spending time digging around in the search engines. However, those interested in sentence-level guidance can visit my resource library as a first port of call.
I also recommend The Creative Penn, a superb knowledge bank through which Joanna Penn guides aspiring authors on how to write, how to get their books published and how to make their work visible. I love Joanna’s genuine and approachable teaching style, and how she makes self-publishing accessible to everyone.
Craft books
Books are the most affordable way I know of accessing high-quality guidance. There are lots – too many to mention here – but I recommend fiction writers start with The Magic of Fiction by Beth Hill because it pays attention to structure and helps writers create a great first draft.
My own Editing Fiction at Sentence Level focuses on line craft that helps writers refine the flow, rhythm, mood, voice and style of their prose.
- community
- content
- craft books
- courses
- conscious language
Community
Take a look at the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) and the Society of Authors. They’re two fine examples of organizations who are dedicated to supporting writers at different stages of their journey.
Membership includes access to free and affordable paid-for events and resources. But they offer something else that’s incredibly valuable too – a network of like-minded people.
Trying to make your mark in the publishing world can feel overwhelming, so being able to get advice and inspiration from others on the same journey is priceless.
Content
There’s a ton of useful – and free – guidance about the craft of writing online, so it’s worth budget-sensitive writers spending time digging around in the search engines. However, those interested in sentence-level guidance can visit my resource library as a first port of call.
I also recommend The Creative Penn, a superb knowledge bank through which Joanna Penn guides aspiring authors on how to write, how to get their books published and how to make their work visible. I love Joanna’s genuine and approachable teaching style, and how she makes self-publishing accessible to everyone.
Craft books
Books are the most affordable way I know of accessing high-quality guidance. There are lots – too many to mention here – but I recommend fiction writers start with The Magic of Fiction by Beth Hill because it pays attention to structure and helps writers create a great first draft.
My own Editing Fiction at Sentence Level focuses on line craft that helps writers refine the flow, rhythm, mood, voice and style of their prose.
For non-fiction writers, Andy Maslen’s Write to Sell is an excellent tool for any content creator who wants to craft a compelling message, something that’s critical for authors when they’re promoting their books.
And Joanna Penn’s How to Write Non-Fiction takes authors step by step through the whole book-creation process – from mindset to marketing and everything else in between.
Courses
Love learning at your own pace? Online courses are an affordable and convenient way to study in a multimedia environment.
There are lots to choose from. For starters, take a look at Joanna Penn’s business-focused author courses, and for craft-based tuition for fiction, try Narrative Distance: A Toolbox for Writers and Editors and Preparing Your Book for Submission, two courses from my own training stable.
The National Writing Centre also offers online training that aims to build authors’ confidence. Some of their courses are even free. The NWC also partners with the University of East Anglia to provide more in-depth premium creative-writing courses that come with tutor support.
Conscious language
Anyone who’s aware of the events surrounding Kate Clanchy’s Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me will understand the importance of reviewing their work through the lens of representation.
I’m not for a minute suggesting that a work of fiction or non-fiction has to follow a set of prescribed ‘rules’ about what can or can’t be written, but rather that writing means applying the same mindfulness to the words we put on a page as those that come out of our mouths.
When we write, we’re building a relationship with our readers, even though we don’t know who most of them are. And so consciously considering whether our words are helping or harming is just good human practice – one that means our books function as we intend them to, whether that’s to teach or to entertain.
For authors who want a little more guidance on this, I have a free booklet on inclusive and respectful writing. It doesn’t prescribe, just helps writers make informed decisions.
And Joanna Penn’s How to Write Non-Fiction takes authors step by step through the whole book-creation process – from mindset to marketing and everything else in between.
Courses
Love learning at your own pace? Online courses are an affordable and convenient way to study in a multimedia environment.
There are lots to choose from. For starters, take a look at Joanna Penn’s business-focused author courses, and for craft-based tuition for fiction, try Narrative Distance: A Toolbox for Writers and Editors and Preparing Your Book for Submission, two courses from my own training stable.
The National Writing Centre also offers online training that aims to build authors’ confidence. Some of their courses are even free. The NWC also partners with the University of East Anglia to provide more in-depth premium creative-writing courses that come with tutor support.
Conscious language
Anyone who’s aware of the events surrounding Kate Clanchy’s Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me will understand the importance of reviewing their work through the lens of representation.
I’m not for a minute suggesting that a work of fiction or non-fiction has to follow a set of prescribed ‘rules’ about what can or can’t be written, but rather that writing means applying the same mindfulness to the words we put on a page as those that come out of our mouths.
When we write, we’re building a relationship with our readers, even though we don’t know who most of them are. And so consciously considering whether our words are helping or harming is just good human practice – one that means our books function as we intend them to, whether that’s to teach or to entertain.
For authors who want a little more guidance on this, I have a free booklet on inclusive and respectful writing. It doesn’t prescribe, just helps writers make informed decisions.
3. Manage your first draft appropriately
The first draft isn’t usually something that should be sent to an editor. More often, the first draft is where the author lays down the story just as it comes.
Once that’s done, put the book away – just let it sit for a while – then revisit it and decide what’s working and what isn’t, what needs refining, amplifying or deleting.
Perhaps follow Sophie Hannah and Jeffery Deaver’s lead and create detailed outlines that help keep you on track even at first-draft stage. You can read more about Hannah’s method in ‘Why and how I plan my novels’.
If you do decide to work with an editor, invest time in finding someone who’s a great fit for you: someone who gets you and is engaged with what you’re doing with your writing.
That person should also be offering the right level of editing (see 1. Understand the different types of editing).
And tell them if you’re nervous about being edited; it’s perfectly normal to feel that way. Just bear in mind that they’re on your side and are working for you, for your book and for your reader!
Once that’s done, put the book away – just let it sit for a while – then revisit it and decide what’s working and what isn’t, what needs refining, amplifying or deleting.
Perhaps follow Sophie Hannah and Jeffery Deaver’s lead and create detailed outlines that help keep you on track even at first-draft stage. You can read more about Hannah’s method in ‘Why and how I plan my novels’.
If you do decide to work with an editor, invest time in finding someone who’s a great fit for you: someone who gets you and is engaged with what you’re doing with your writing.
That person should also be offering the right level of editing (see 1. Understand the different types of editing).
And tell them if you’re nervous about being edited; it’s perfectly normal to feel that way. Just bear in mind that they’re on your side and are working for you, for your book and for your reader!
4. Understand the difference between style, convention and peevery
I'm sometimes asked: 'What’s your biggest writing pet peeve as an editor?' My answer is: There’s no room for pet peeves in professional editing – or at least there shouldn’t be.
Do I have preferences? I do – everyone does – but that’s all they are and they have no business in the work that editors do for their clients. Our job is to focus on a client’s goals, the world of their story, and the readers who’ll come along for the journey.
There are stylistic and grammatical conventions in writing, and a professional editor should understand those and be mindful of them, but editing requires a malleable mindset that respects voice and rhythm as much as anything else.
It’s about sense and sensibility, not prescriptivism and pedantry.
Listen right here to this collection of episodes from The Editing Podcast on language, grammar and style:
Do I have preferences? I do – everyone does – but that’s all they are and they have no business in the work that editors do for their clients. Our job is to focus on a client’s goals, the world of their story, and the readers who’ll come along for the journey.
There are stylistic and grammatical conventions in writing, and a professional editor should understand those and be mindful of them, but editing requires a malleable mindset that respects voice and rhythm as much as anything else.
It’s about sense and sensibility, not prescriptivism and pedantry.
Listen right here to this collection of episodes from The Editing Podcast on language, grammar and style:
5. Recognize the pros and cons of being your own publisher
The main advantage of being an indie author is that you get to control everything.
The main disadvantage is … you get to control everything!
You’re the publisher as well as the writer, which means you decide which books to write and publish, what the cover will look like, which levels of editorial help to commission, which channels to distribute your book through, what the price will be, what formats the book will be available in, and how your promotion strategy will play out.
That’s a lot of work – work that costs you time and money. Publishers will do some of it for you. Still, that will come at a cost because you’ll be taking a royalty that’s likely lower than the return from selling direct.
Being your own publisher isn’t everyone’s wheelhouse, but for those who want to be in control, there’s never been a better time to wear that hat because of all the technical solutions available to authors.
Any writer can use Amazon. It’s the biggest bookstore on the planet. But you might want to sell direct via your website, too, because that’s your very own shop window.
Platforms like Payhip and BookFunnel have made that possible, and it’s made it easy … not just for you but for your customers too.
And for authors who are not only writing but also teaching about writing, there are multiple platforms that support that too – LearnDash (Wordpress plugin), LearnWorlds and Teachable for example.
The main disadvantage is … you get to control everything!
You’re the publisher as well as the writer, which means you decide which books to write and publish, what the cover will look like, which levels of editorial help to commission, which channels to distribute your book through, what the price will be, what formats the book will be available in, and how your promotion strategy will play out.
That’s a lot of work – work that costs you time and money. Publishers will do some of it for you. Still, that will come at a cost because you’ll be taking a royalty that’s likely lower than the return from selling direct.
Being your own publisher isn’t everyone’s wheelhouse, but for those who want to be in control, there’s never been a better time to wear that hat because of all the technical solutions available to authors.
Any writer can use Amazon. It’s the biggest bookstore on the planet. But you might want to sell direct via your website, too, because that’s your very own shop window.
Platforms like Payhip and BookFunnel have made that possible, and it’s made it easy … not just for you but for your customers too.
And for authors who are not only writing but also teaching about writing, there are multiple platforms that support that too – LearnDash (Wordpress plugin), LearnWorlds and Teachable for example.
6. Take control of cramped and communal work spaces
Having a dedicated work space means you're not shifting two large monitors and a hard drive off the dinner table every evening. For those working from home, having a place where your business ‘lives’ helps you separate writing from family life.
I realize that everyone’s situation is different, but I hope at least one of the following tips will speak to anyone trying to carve out a dedicated work space.
I realize that everyone’s situation is different, but I hope at least one of the following tips will speak to anyone trying to carve out a dedicated work space.
- Agree boundaries in shared spaces: Decide which part is yours and which is theirs, and respect that.
- Create boundaries in multifunctional spaces: Some writers have to work in a bedroom, kitchen or living room. If there’s enough space, fence off a corner with a panelled room divider. These can be pricey so an alternative is to install a rail and fashion a curtain from an old duvet cover or sheet.
- Use mobile desks in cramped spaces: Mobile desks are readily available online and are priced competitively so that even writers on a smaller budget can house a monitor, keyboard, mouse and hard drive. Complement with a storage trolley for your books and stationery. Wheel the whole lot into another room when required!
Summing up
There’s a lot to think about when you decide to become your own publisher – not just what you write but also who supports you during that process, the ways you’ll invest in developing your craft and how to manage the space in which your books are written.
You’re not alone. There’s a ton of help available to help you … whatever your budget and whatever subject or genre you’re writing in. These 6 tips barely scratch the surface, but I hope they at least inspire you to take the next steps of your indie-author journey with confidence.
You’re not alone. There’s a ton of help available to help you … whatever your budget and whatever subject or genre you’re writing in. These 6 tips barely scratch the surface, but I hope they at least inspire you to take the next steps of your indie-author journey with confidence.
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
Find out what narrative distance is and why fiction editors and authors need to pay attention to it.
What’s in this post ...
- What is narrative distance?
- Are narrative distance and psychic distance the same thing?
- How is narrative distance related to narrative style?
- Why writers and editors need to learn about narrative distance
- Using a visual framework to understand narrative distance
- Related resources for you to dig into
What is narrative distance?
Narrative means story. It’s the part of a novel that isn’t dialogue.
A narrator is the person who tells the story. They can be a character in the book or an entity that stands outside it.
There can be multiple narrators in a book, too. That allows the author to present events from multiple perspectives.
‘Narrative distance’ describes the space between a novel’s narrator and the reader.
A narrator is the person who tells the story. They can be a character in the book or an entity that stands outside it.
There can be multiple narrators in a book, too. That allows the author to present events from multiple perspectives.
‘Narrative distance’ describes the space between a novel’s narrator and the reader.
- If we, as readers, feel deeply connected to the narrator and their experience of the fictional world they inhabit, narrative distance is tiny.
- If we feel dislocated from them, more like we’re looking out on the story’s landscape objectively, the narrative distance is wide.
Are narrative distance and psychic distance the same thing?
Yes, narrative distance and psychic distance are the same thing. Some writers and editors use one term, some the other. They’re interchangeable. Use whichever you feel comfortable with.
You might find one or other useful depending on what issues you’re dealing with when you’re writing or editing. I like the word ‘narrative’ because it reminds me what part of the prose I’m dealing with.
Then again, I sometimes use the word ‘psychic’ because it reminds me that although I’m dealing with fiction, and therefore something that’s not real, the narrator within that creative realm still has their own lived experience and a raft of emotions that come with that.
You might find one or other useful depending on what issues you’re dealing with when you’re writing or editing. I like the word ‘narrative’ because it reminds me what part of the prose I’m dealing with.
Then again, I sometimes use the word ‘psychic’ because it reminds me that although I’m dealing with fiction, and therefore something that’s not real, the narrator within that creative realm still has their own lived experience and a raft of emotions that come with that.
How is narrative distance related to narrative style?
Narrative style refers to the way in which the narrator offers their perspective. Common narrative styles include:
Each of those narrative styles come with a certain degree of distance between the narrator and the reader.
For example, first-person narrations always feel a little more intimate because the pronoun ‘I’ is used. Second-person narrations can feel equally intimate, but in a voyeuristic way.
Third-person narrations – and the pronouns that come with them – are what we’re used to using for those not being directly addressed, so in prose they naturally put space between readers and narrators using the third person.
When we move beyond a framework of narrative style and start to think specifically in terms of narrative distance, we’re able to analyse the effectiveness of prose in a more nuanced and flexible way.
- First-person limited
- Third-person limited
- Third-person objective
- Third-person omniscient
Each of those narrative styles come with a certain degree of distance between the narrator and the reader.
For example, first-person narrations always feel a little more intimate because the pronoun ‘I’ is used. Second-person narrations can feel equally intimate, but in a voyeuristic way.
Third-person narrations – and the pronouns that come with them – are what we’re used to using for those not being directly addressed, so in prose they naturally put space between readers and narrators using the third person.
When we move beyond a framework of narrative style and start to think specifically in terms of narrative distance, we’re able to analyse the effectiveness of prose in a more nuanced and flexible way.
Why writers and editors need to learn about narrative distance
Take a book off your shelf and read a couple of pages. Even though the entire section might be written in a single narrative style – for example, third-person limited, it’s likely that the narrative distance still changes.
Perhaps you’ve never noticed before, and if that’s the case, the author and their editor have done a great job because the movement is seamless.
If that movement is jarring and too obvious, it could be an indication that narrative distance isn’t being controlled sufficiently. Editors and writers who can recognize narrative distance and evaluate its effectiveness are better equipped to solve the problem, and justify their solutions.
Perhaps you’ve never noticed before, and if that’s the case, the author and their editor have done a great job because the movement is seamless.
If that movement is jarring and too obvious, it could be an indication that narrative distance isn’t being controlled sufficiently. Editors and writers who can recognize narrative distance and evaluate its effectiveness are better equipped to solve the problem, and justify their solutions.
Using a visual framework to understand narrative distance
Are you confused by narrative distance? Don’t worry – you’re not alone! It’s a complex topic. Even experienced line editors and authors can struggle to get their heads around it.
My solution was to structure my own learning as a visual framework. I presented that framework at the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading’s annual conference in September 2021 and then for the Society of Authors in October 2021.
The framework I shared at those two events garnered fabulous reviews and convinced me to record a webinar that everyone could access.
Narrative Distance: A Toolbox for Writers and Editors is available now to anyone who wants to lift the curtain on narrative distance and use it to craft prose that offers a better reader experience.
Use the button below to find out what’s included in the course.
My solution was to structure my own learning as a visual framework. I presented that framework at the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading’s annual conference in September 2021 and then for the Society of Authors in October 2021.
The framework I shared at those two events garnered fabulous reviews and convinced me to record a webinar that everyone could access.
Narrative Distance: A Toolbox for Writers and Editors is available now to anyone who wants to lift the curtain on narrative distance and use it to craft prose that offers a better reader experience.
Use the button below to find out what’s included in the course.
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If you’re a CIEP member, don’t forget that you can save 20% on all my courses. Log in to Promoted courses · Louise Harnby’s online courses. Then enter the coupon code at my checkout.
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Related resources for you to dig into
- Blog post: 7 reasons why I’m not the right editor for you
- Blog post: How to avoid repeating ‘I’ in first-person writing
- Blog post: How to show the emotions of non-viewpoint characters
- Blog post: What’s the difference between a viewpoint character and a protagonist?
- Book: Editing Fiction at Sentence Level
- Book: Making Sense of Point of View
- Course: How to Write the Perfect Fiction Editorial Report
- Course: Switching to Fiction
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
- Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader
- Connect: Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, Facebook and LinkedIn
- Learn: Books and courses
- Discover: Resources for authors and editors
