Insights into Editing: A Conversation with Carin Siegfried Part I

Carin Siegfried, an independent editor in Charlotte, recently spoke to my CPCC fiction writing class on the editorial process. Over the next few weeks I will share  answers to questions the class and I had posed. 

Carol: What are the different types of editing?

Carin: A developmental edit primarily looks at pacing, organization, point of view, and plot, while line editing looks at dialogue, clarity, and word choice.

Copyediting focuses on grammar, spelling, punctuation, accuracy, and consistency. Proofreading is done after the text has been formatted and is for picking up any last missed errors, mistakes, or typos, and any formatting issues such as hyphenation and word ladders.

Carol: Can you tell us a little about the editing process?

Carin: An author trumps an editor. Writers need to stop worrying that “they’ll ruin my book." If you accept no editing however, your book won’t get published.

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    Some suggestions are there to force the author to think through an issue, not to make a change. Sometimes the solution to an issue is not what the editor suggests, but a third option. Here is an example. You can’t hotwire most 2012 cars. A writer who I was working with hadn’t done her research. The solution was not to find what 2012 cars CAN be hotwired, but to switch to a classic car. Issues with authenticity and accuracy will call the author's authority into question.

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    The editorial process should be back-and-forth and always keeps the reader in mind as primary. 

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·        No one is good at editing for all potential issues so it’s good to have a variety of eyes look at your work (writer’s group, agent, editor).

Writers need to remember: Writing is hard work. If it wasn’t 
everyone would be doing it. 


Coming up next: Carin talks about common editing problems.