Editors are not Optional

By Helena P. Schrader

I am often astonished when I hear of people who believe they can write and publish a full-length book without the aid of an editor. In my experience, editors are more essential than publishers. After all, nowadays, it is possible to self-publish a book. But no one can self-edit. Editors are not only essential, they should also be your friends, your fans and your harshest critics. Let me explain.

No one, absolutely no one, is capable of complete objectivity when looking at their own creations. Nor should they be! The same object drawn by different artists will always look different and that is that subjectivity that makes art so intriguing, exciting and inspiring. 

Yet our subjectivity also makes us blind both to outright errors and features that might offend, bore, irritate, or outrage some viewers/readers. Thus, editors have two broad purposes and help an author at two levels. 

First, at the pedestrian and most obvious level, editors help by catching unintentional errors. No matter what our message, poor grammar, bad spelling, incorrect formatting, missing words or misplaced punctuation will not help get the message across. It doesn't matter how brilliant an author is, or how nit-picking and good he/she is at finding the mistakes of others. No one sees all their own errors all the time.  You see, as authors, we know our own text so well that we are inclined to see what we meant to write rather than what we wrote. E.g. since an author knows that the text should read "she was not there,” but in haste writes "she was there," the author will literally see "she was not there" when proofing the manuscript. 

On a higher level, however, a good editor can also guide an author to develop a book to its greatest potential. A good editor challenges the author's original concept, asks provocative questions about structure, character development, setting, back-story, pacing, plausibility, historical context, themes and more. Receiving negative feedback before a manuscript is published, gives an author the chance to correct and revise before investing in printing, ebook formatting and marketing — and then seeing those crushing reviews on amazon and from important review sites like Kirkus.

No editors aren't cheap. They shouldn't be. They are professionals providing a valuable service. The question is: what will cost more? A good editor or bad reviews?  

When I first started publishing, I expected my publishers to provide detailed feedback on the content of my books. I thought the publisher would point out apparent contradictions, areas that needed 'tightening up' or more explanation, etc. It didn't happen. All I ever received from a publisher was proof-reading, and that only up to a point. I continued to find errors in the sixth and seventh proof. 

When I first started self-publishing and hired free-lance editors, I was pleased by the meticulous proof-reading they did, but it took me three editors before I found one that was willing to be critical of the content. Finally! At last, I had a reader who was willing to challenge me, question me, and make me justify my writing decisions. Critically, I was having this discussion at a point when I still had the chance to re-write, refine, and so improve the manuscript. Furthermore, I was having this discussion with someone who cared about the book.  

A good editor doesn’t take money for services, they invest their time, skills and reputation into your book. They get absorbed in the story. They care about the characters. They want to see the book published and praised. They want the book to succeed.  They are the authors' first fan and the more critical they are, the more they help make the book the best that it can be. Never underestimate them and never, never try to do without them!

Helena P. Schrader earned a PhD in History from the University of Hamburg with a ground-breaking biography of a leading member of the German Resistance to Hitler. She served in the financial service industry before joining the U.S. diplomatic corps, where she served in a variety of posts in Africa and Europe. She retired in 2018. She has since published numerous works of fiction and non-fiction, several of which have won one or more literary awards.

Lorie Langdon On The Long Haul & Hard Grind of A Writing Career

Today's guest is Lorie Langdon, author of the Happily Never After series from Disney. Lorie joined me today to talk about ups and downs of a career, finding non-traditional routes to income, and how social media creates the illusion of success... even when it's not true.

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Roselle Lim on The Importance of Food when Writing about Culture

By Roselle Lim

My large, extended family from my mother’s side immigrated to Canada from the Philippines. My eldest aunt was the first to come over and the rest followed her like goslings across the water. We packed our traditions and recipes into our suitcases and moving boxes, and hoped it would help us navigate the strange, new beyond.

In Canada, our tongues, which spoke Hokkien and Tagalog, felt swollen and clumsy wrapping itself around the syllables of English. Our feet stumbled, trying to navigate and learn new roads and customs. The only source of stability and comfort was family and food—in each other and in the familiar tastes of the country we left, we found strength in the dishes my aunts and my father cooked in our new homes.

In general, my family found the same spices and ingredients, and in the case when they didn’t, they substituted to recreate the flavor profile. What they simmered was something old yet new, with the distinct zest of the diaspora. The immigrant experience centres around community and food. The sharing of meals facilitates kinship and a way to connect to our heritage.

When I write about food, it’s not only an expression of my culture and my family—it’s a culmination of my life experiences through one specific lens.

Conversely, I am not lumpia or a bowl of salted duck egg congee.

Writing culture relying on food is reductive. It treats cuisine as the goal when in reality, food acts as the medium to convey nuance, traditions, and history. To write using a character’s traditional foods as a sole means to validate identity or representation is lazy and dismissive. It opens up the writer to perpetuating harmful stereotypes and problematic content.

Without acknowledging or respecting the history and subtleties in the dishes you are writing about, there is much lost in translation. For example, a bowl of arroz caldo on a cold, wintry day is comfort in a bowl and without the context of culture, you might as well write about a bowl of cereal on an ordinary weekday morning.

Food is life for me and often a passionate topic in the cultural framework. While its importance is unquestioned, writing about it in terms of representation and as a reflection of heritage should be taken with great care—the way my father marinates his short ribs with a secret spice blend and sliced kiwis for a day. After all, the act of cooking and feeding can be expressions of love, the way writing is an extension of creativity.

While food can be important to culture, it shouldn’t be the only tool in the arsenal. There are many other ways to convey the complexities of my identity. To me, food is best as a garnish that further enhances what I’d already established and prepared ahead of time. It’s meant to be savoured and act as one of the ways to understand the context and nuances of our identities.

Roselle Lim is the critically acclaimed author of Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune, Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop and her newest release, Sophie Go’s Lonely Hearts Club. She lives on the north shore of Lake Erie and always has an artistic project on the go.