Editing for Teen Writers

At the Laie Young Writer's club, we mostly emphasize just writing. Write stuff. Lots of stuff. Then come and read it to us. We love it all!

But someday you're going to want to be a professional writer. And that means you're going to have to deal with...

EDITING.

Some writers are really good at editing, and even like to do it. Others hate it. Whether you love it or hate it, know this. You can not edit your own work and get it up to the quality you need for publication. Sorry. That's the facts. You're going to need someone else to help you.

On the other hand, you are able to take your own raw material and make it much better. In fact, you ought to do some of your own editing before you get a professional involved.

Let's talk about four different kinds of editors

1. Acquisitions Editors - An acquisitions editor works at a magazine or publishing company. Their job is to read stuff and decide if it is even worth editing. Not only are they looking for awesome writing, they want awesome writing they can sell.

2. Content Editors - These people make sure the setting, the characters, and the plot are the best they can be. They don't worry about the spelling errors, they just make sure the story rocks.

3. Copy Editors - The copy editor is the person who checks to see that the main character's best friend who has brown hair in scene one doesn't suddenly have blond hair in chapter seven. They may even check your historical or geographical facts and let you know if you've made a mistake. Oops!

4. Line Editors - Now it's time to get down to the nitty gritty and check every word, every sentence, every punctuation mark to make sure this manuscript is ready to print and share with the world. Line editors correct grammar and spelling, and point out those awkward passages you really ought to reword.

Right now, you may not want to think about editing your stories at all. Write them, write a lot of them, share them with your friends, then put them away someplace. But someday, you'll want to put on your editor hat, and follow these four steps. First, ask yourself if this story you wrote is worth working on. Will other people enjoy it? Can you sell it? If the answer is yes, then see if there's anything you can do to make the story better. Once you've done that, you'd better make sure everything is consistent. Last of all, check your work for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Then you'll be ready to send it out and start the whole process all over again!

One word about traditional vs. self publishing. In traditional publishing, you're going to send your work to an acquisitions editor who will decide if it is worthy or not. In self-publishing, YOU are the only acquisitions editor you get. You decide if your work is worth hiring someone to do content, copy, and line editing.

Keep writing!