Everyone Needs a Little Editing Magic

When a client emailed her manuscript last spring, she included this message: “Now I need your magic wand to move to a higher level.”

What this writer meant was, “I need your patience; I need your belief that there is something worthwhile hidden in the word document attached to this email.”

Editing can be like excavation; veins of purpose, and intent might be buried, waiting to be mined. Once the underlying meaning is brought to the surface and properly identified, the real polishing begins. Good editing can transform a collection of words into a dazzling message.

In this writer’s case, she had written five dozen essays over the course of several decades. Editing involved shoring up inconsistencies, eliminating repetitions, and finding proof to support unsubstantiated facts. This meant that parts of her manuscript hit the cutting room floor. (There were unhappy emails. The editor's name may have been taken in vain.) Now, however, when this author speaks to groups and promotes her book, she is confident that everything in her book can withstand scrutiny. Even better, she is not at risk of being sued for libel or slander.

Though it may seem like magic, editing is painstaking and tedious work. If an edited piece of work looks like a beautiful white rabbit hopping out of a black hat of a manuscript, then the hard work was successful.