On the Care and Maintenance of Editors

September is “Be Kind to Editors and Writers” Month. Here at Duck Prints Press, we have editors and writers aplenty, and to celebrate them, we asked them a few questions about kindness in their field of work. In this post, we’ll be chatting with our editors. (Stay tuned for the writers chat later this month!)

The participants in this roundtable are E. C., Alex, Nina Waters, Rhosyn Goodfellow, theirprofoundbond, boneturtle, and an anonymous contributor.

1. What is your favorite self-care as an editor?

E. C.: Following the 20-20-20 rule to mitigate eyestrain (I make it the 20-20-20-200-20 rule and look out a window for a bit, too).

Alex: Scheduling in breaks, both short (for eyestrain) and long (for mental fatigue). I always ensure there’s some fun snacks or activity involved (past treats have included anything from ice cream after finishing X amount of pages to new tattoos for finishing a major project).

Nina Waters: Mostly, it’s setting and enforcing boundaries about when and how I will work and when and how I won’t. Like, “I don’t check my email during these periods” kind of stuff.

Anonymous: As a freelance editor, my favorite type of self-care is scheduling myself fairly, and not taking on too much.

Rhosyn Goodfellow: Scheduling breaks specifically to play with my dogs, which helps get my brain completely away from thinking about written communication.

theirprofoundbond: My favorite self-care is to set limits for myself in terms of the amount of work I’m going to take on, as well as the kinds of projects I’m going to work on. I really had to learn how to say no to things, especially when I was first starting out. I felt like I should accept any project that came my way, or accept even if I wasn’t very interested in the project because I had availability. Now, I’m much choosier about how much work I’ll say yes to, and the projects I’m going to devote my time to. The authors I work with benefit, because they’re getting the best out of me. The authors I decline to work with have the opportunity to find someone who will be able to offer them the time, support, and enthusiasm they deserve. And I’m certainly benefiting, because I find my editing work much more enjoyable now!

2. What kindnesses have others done for you to support your editing that you’ve appreciated?

Alex: Listened to me when I said I was not to be disturbed (this goes for digital friends as well as irl folks).

Nina Waters: Being understanding that editors aren’t perfect either, like, yeah, I do make mistakes, and so do the writers, and the whole point is this is a partnership where we work through it all together to produce a polished story that makes the author’s words and intentions shine.

Anonymous: I appreciate when my clients get that I have a full-time job in addition to their edits. My wife is also very understanding when I have to sit at the computer and edit instead of hanging out with her.

Rhosyn Goodfellow: Understanding and respecting that my editing time is just as important as my time working at my other job.

theirprofoundbond: Editors get imposter syndrome, too! I have absolutely been intimidated by certain projects and my authors’ writing skills. And I’ve been on the receiving end of some very kind, reassuring pep talks about my editing skills and quality of work. (If one of my authors sees this, no you didn’t. I am so cool and composed. I often rely on rubberducking to help me develop my feedback for an author. I appreciate my partner and close friends letting me ramble, sometimes at length, when I’m trying to nail down a thought or thread the needle on something tricky. I really appreciate getting feedback from my authors! I know what my approach to editing is, but I don’t know what it’s like to be edited by me. Hearing the specific ways my work has helped an author, or what they valued from the experience of being edited by me, or what I could have done better, gives me really helpful perspective on my work.

3. What’s an advice you’d like to give to people who want to support their editor friends?

Alex: Your editor has a good handle on what they need to succeed. If they ask for something (or conversely, don’t ask for anything), it’s probably for a reason!

Nina Waters: If the editor is wearing their “editor” hat and not their “friend” hat, understand that. And don’t assume that just cause they’re your friend, they’ll be interested in editing for you.

Anonymous: If you want to support your editor friends, I recommend acknowledging the effort they’re putting in and the skill it takes to do what they do. It’s nice to feel appreciated!

Rhosyn Goodfellow: If you think what they do is cool or important, tell them! It’s always nice to know someone thinks what you do is important, and I think that’s especially true right now for anyone whose job falls into the broad category of work people who don’t actually understand that work think is easily replaceable with AI tools.

theirprofoundbond: Ask them about their work! It’s understandable that there’s a lot of interest in authors’ writing progress and processes, but editors are involved, too, working away behind the scenes to support their authors. It means a lot when people show interest in my work. I truly love what I do, and I love talking about it—whether that’s with someone who has no familiarity with what I do (or they have misconceptions—very common!), or with authors or other editors who have an understanding of the editing process/experience.

4. What’s a common misconception about being an editor that you’d like to correct?

Alex: Yes, I edit. Yes, I write. No, I have never gone an hour without typos and no, I will not be correcting them (unless they’re REALLY egregious lol)

Nina Waters: That editors are evil inflexible hardasses.

Anonymous: I don’t like the misconception that editors are, like, sharks intent on tearing your manuscript apart. I don’t suggest changes because I hate you or your writing; I want your writing to be the best it can be.

Rhosyn Goodfellow: That editing is about “correcting” someone’s writing. An editor’s job is to help a writer tell the story they want to tell and communicate the information they want to communicate in the most effective way possible. Even things like spelling, grammar, and adhering to a specific style aren’t about doing things the “right” way; they’re about minimizing the degree to which the technical aspects of written language distract readers from the content of the writing. A good writer-editor relationship is a partnership, not some kind of grammatical dictatorship.

theirprofoundbond: People almost always assume that I’m eager to correct and criticize an author. That I’m going to tear their work apart. I think those ideas come from a place of people recognizing that giving your creative work to someone for feedback and improvement is a little scary, but it has been striking to see this repeated misconception—even from people who know me well, and know that that’s not how I am as a person or editor. I can’t improve on Rhosyn’s response to this question, but I will say that for my part, I tell every author I work with that I’m there to help them tell the story they want to tell, not tell them what to do.

To summarize in the words of boneturtle: editors are the Frankenstein’s monster just looking for love while everyone runs away screaming

Love our roundtable discussions? You can view all our past chats here! Also, did you know that Patrons get Discord access that allows them to contribute to these lists? Come check out all the awesome offerings on our Patreon and join the conversation!