Intuitive Editing
Tiffany Yates Martin
Review by Chelsey Stone
It may seem odd to recommend a book about self-editing to a group of freelance editors — but hear me out.
Intuitive Editing: A Creative and Practical Guide to Revising Your Writing by Tiffany Yates Martin is like being in the room with an experienced developmental editor while she works on a manuscript. This book reveals how Yates approaches each manuscript, how she phrases queries, how she develops her editorial letter, and what questions she asks herself and her author. Because as she’s teaching her reader to self-edit, she’s revealing how she edits an author’s worThe bulk of the book is spent coaching the writer through what Yates calls macroedits (character, stakes, and plot), microedits (voice, structure, suspense and tension, etc.), and line edits (“an examination of your prose, line by line”). She approaches the developmental editing of storytelling elements and language mainly through questions.
And there are a lot of questions in this book. A lot. The headings are often questions (“Does it feel immediate and visceral?”), and sometimes entire paragraphs are a series of questions teasing out a specific issue. This is because, while it does offer some examples of how to revise, the book’s mostly about getting the author to do the critical thinking — to spot where and why characters have gone flat, why the momentum has stalled, when to show rather than tell — on their own.
At this point I will admit that I have not attempted developmental editing work, exclusively proofreading and copyediting at the moment. But if I were to expand that part of my services, this book would be by my side through at least my first few projects. Because I would ask myself (and then the writer) the same questions Yates does, wording them as she suggests as I developed my own style.
Just as it’s helpful to see what she’s asking authors to encourage revision, it’s equally valuable to see how she’s coaching writers to seek outside feedback. (Whew! She isn't trying to put us all out of work after all.) The final — but shortest — section of the book provides guidance for how a writer can train their brain to edit (e.g. by joining a critique group), some free or low-cost options (e.g., “find a bargain editor”), and finally, hiring a professional.
I couldn’t help but knowingly grin when I read this mention of the EFA:
“The independent and freelance editing market has bourgeoned in recent years to fill the editorial gap, offering a mixed blessing. On the one hand, authors have access as never before to an incredibly broad field of editors from which to choose. (Post a job description on the Editorial Freelancers Association website and wait for the tidal wave of responses if you want to see what I mean.)” (288).
I always find it helpful to learn what writers are being told about the editorial process, how to find an editor, rates for editing, and so on. With this book, I felt like I was being let in behind the curtain, eavesdropping on the director so I can use their dialogue in my opening act.
For example, she tells writers, “. . .if an editor balks at offering [a sample edit] — or offers you a generic one from someone else's project — again, my personal advice is to walk away” (300). She goes on to explain her position, which is a great insight into how to talk to clients about this part of the process.
When reviewing the sample edit, she asks the writer to consider, “Are the comments positive and tactful, rather than dictatorial or high-handed? ‘Wordy-cut’ may be a comment that rubs a lot of authors the wrong way . . . An editor can convey the same idea more constructively: ‘This feels as if you restate the same thing twice here; the first clause is stronger-you might consider cutting the second.’ The first suggestion may be subjective — the author has no way of knowing — and it’s brusque” (301). She not only provides an author’s perspective toward our queries, but also provides examples and explains what makes for good queries.
While I don’t agree with everything Yates shares (a soapbox of mine is how we, as a profession, should charge a small fee for sample edits, whereas Yates casually confirms they’re unpaid labor), Intuitive Editing provides great insight into how a developmental editor works and how writers are coached to seek our services.
By Chelsey Stone