Surviving your editor’s recommendations and feedback
Getting your book published is a long journey requiring writers to navigate several stages of the process. Each stage, from writing the first draft to promoting your book, requires a different skill set and a varying level of emotional resilience.
One of the most essential stages a writer must effectively navigate is the editorial feedback stage. Here a writer must learn to receive constructive feedback, understand the recommendations and why they are being suggested, determine which edits will best serve their story, and finally, execute those changes.
As writers, we want our material to be as close to perfection as possible. It’s tough when we receive feedback with red-line edits, chapters crossed off, and beautiful prose replaced with relatable language. It’s easy to become flooded with emotions, feel like giving up or have no idea where to start implementing those changes.
Before you throw your hands in the air and your PC across the room, know that receiving feedback and learning how to utilize those edits gets easier with practice. Below are a few tips to help you navigate the emotional aspect of absorbing editorial recommendations and how best to start the revision process.
Let it soak in for a few days
Full disclosure: when I first receive feedback, it often feels like a moderate-level gut punch. I feel shame, I feel like an imposter, and I question my abilities. But as I allow the days to pass and read through the notes once more, I realize my editors have the experience and knowledge to see the best in my story. My editors aren’t trying to crush my spirits. In fact, they share the same goal - to make the story or article the best it can be.
It’s okay to feel a bit shattered. It’s a human reaction to be disappointed or overwhelmed when receiving criticism, even if it is constructive. Whatever you may be feeling, remember, “this too shall pass,” and as your career progresses and you become more comfortable receiving feedback, the wounds won’t run as deep.
Pro tip. Read your editorial letter and then go outside for a walk. Allow yourself to feel and then breathe some fresh air. This may sound trite, but being in nature helps to calm your mind and body, which will help you formulate a healthy perspective and gain some distance. If you need evidence of nature and its benefits, here is some research for those skeptics out there.
After allowing the editorial letter to rest for a day or so, you can go through your actual edits, page-by-page, with a notebook by your side. Write down any questions about the recommended edits. Don’t censor yourself. For now, this is just for you and will help you sort out your concerns.
Allow your questions to settle on the paper for a few days and review them at least twice more. You will likely cross off several questions and clarify what you want to discuss in your editorial meeting.
The first time I received Track Changes (edits via Microsoft Word), I had one hundred questions for my editor. After allowing the feedback to settle and reviewing my questions, I narrowed my questions down to fifteen.
How did I go from one hundred questions to fifteen? Upon the third review of my questions, I realized many were about defending my work. Knowing I had limited time to talk with my editor, I didn’t want to waste our meeting trying to prove my worth. I would much rather spend our time trying to improve my story.
Once I let go of the energy around having to be right, it cleared space to focus on what was really important. I could then see the value in the suggestions and understand how readers may absorb my story differently than I intended.
As the creators of our stories, we are so ingrained in the material that it’s impossible to view it objectively. While we may write for various reasons, ultimately, we want other people to read and enjoy our work. To help ensure our stories are the best they can possibly be, we need qualified editors to review them.
Balancing editorial feedback with writer instinct
You are the ultimate creator of your story, and you get to decide how your story unfolds. If there is feedback that you disagree with, that’s okay. Although you and your editor are on the same team, you won’t always agree. The trick is knowing when to fold and when to hold on to something that feels truly meaningful.
If you feel unsure, revisit the message you want to give readers. Is this a story about redemption, forgiveness, or true love? What does the protagonist want, and what lessons do they need to learn? This is the lens from which you want to assess your chapters.
The longer you allow yourself time and space with your editors’ feedback, the easier it will be to decipher what feels like a necessary and experienced recommendation versus an edit that is not a fit for you, your message, or your story.
With practice, you will get better at distancing yourself and viewing the recommendations objectively while also honing your writer’s instinct.
Put those recommendations into action
Once you have read your editorial letter, addressed your questions with your editor, and have taken the time to absorb the feedback, it’s time to put your editors’ recommendations to work.
If you already have a system that works for you, then great. Do that; there is no need to fix what isn’t broken. However, if you feel overwhelmed and are unsure where to start, below are a few suggestions to help you chip away at your revisions, one step at a time.
Incorporating your recommended edits
First, make a copy of your “track-change-document” and rename it so that you now have two identical documents. Use one document to play with and accept changes, and keep the other untouched for reference.
Begin by reading the chapters that house your fundamental beats and ensure they are strong and in the correct place. For fiction, these beats are what Blake Snyder, author of Save the Cat, refers to as the pillars of your story.
These include the catalyst (life-changing event), break into act 2 (the protagonist accepts the challenge and acts), midpoint (stakes are raised, pushing the protagonist toward change), break into act 3 (the aha moment where the protagonist realizes what they need to do to rectify the problem), and all is lost (the protagonist hits rock bottom).
If you are a Blake Snyder fan, you can then assess the other beats, which, in total, add up to fifteen. Focusing on these larger story elements strengthens the foundation before working on more minor issues, such as enhancing your chapters’ opening and ending hooks.
Once you feel confident about these beats, the next step is to add any new chapters or scenes that your editor may have recommended. Once you have written these new chapters or scenes, it’s a good idea to read through your entire manuscript. Though you may be tempted to edit as you read, take notes instead and assess how these new scenes and chapters feel.
Once these larger structural edits are in place and you feel good about them, you can move on to the smaller elements of the story. At this stage, you can either edit each chapter, one at a time in its entirety, meaning you address all the issues of the chapter, such as tension, conflict, backstory, etcetera – or - you can focus on one element of your suggested edits (such as increasing tension) as you pass through each chapter.
You may need to experiment to see which method works best for you. After you have made your edits, ensure that there are no missing pieces (like backstory or clues), and then you can move on to the prose.
The benefits of feedback
Editors are the co-pilot of your creation and help ensure your vision is on paper and palatable for readers. Without editors, few authors would succeed at creating engaging stories that leave the readers wanting more of the author’s work.
Receiving feedback gets easier but I don’t think anyone would describe it as a pleasant or comfortable process. However, it is a necessary part of producing good work. If you feel yourself struggling, just remember, the end goal is to create a fantastic story you can be proud of.
