People sometimes get nervous around me when they hear I’m an editor. They think I’m silently judging every email they send me, checking its grammar and rolling my eyes at what a dumbass they must be. They get stressed about sending me their book draft, in case I think it’s a big pile of doo doo. But here’s what every editor wishes you knew:

Editing your work is an honor.

A true honor.

I get to read so many touching stories and learn such interesting facts. In editing others’ work, I’ve learned that:

  • The prevailing opinion is no longer that our identity is formed in childhood, but that we can morph who we are throughout our lives, no matter our age.

  • Pigeons can survive eating so much rotten garbage because they have a very high normal body temperature, 109 degrees Fahrenheit, which helps kill off the bacteria they consume.

  • Assuming you’re confident you’ll live to retirement, you’re likely better off paying more tax now so you can pay significantly less later. (I’m not a tax advisor. This is not advice!)

  • We don’t have to just accept how we feel; we can choose to feel more joyous.

  • There are folks out there making very serious plans for a worldwide government where we all become one nation. Yeah.

  • There is a name for when someone at work gets promoted into a job they totally suck at: The Peter Principle.

How fun is that! I love me some fun facts.

More than that, though, I get to read people’s stories. I learn where they’ve come from, what motivates them, what they believe matters in this world, and how it could help others.

And I love it.

Yes, sometimes it needs a lot of work

Sometimes I work with a client whose manuscript needs a lot of work. The ideas are kinda muddled. Or they keep making the same grammatical mistakes over and over again. Or they don’t know the difference between an ellipsis … and an em dash —.

 

But why should they?

That’s my job.

I don’t expect anyone to come to me with a perfect manuscript. If they did, I’d feel useless!

So I don’t care if it needs a lot of work. I just enjoy getting to help with it.

And I’m honored when people trust me with their unpolished thoughts.

I truly believe all editors approach the work this way. We do it because we love reading what people want to share with the world and helping them do it even more effectively.

We do it because it is an honor.

So quit stressing about what an editor might think of your unfinished, unpolished writing. We’re just glad to share it!

Thanks,

Liz “I’m Honored” Green
​​Editor, Book Coach, and Ghostwriter
Green Goose Writing

 
 

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