Writer’s Ask: If my work was bad, would you tell me?

God bless it, I had a client reach out the other day with an editing request for a novel manuscript and this sweet summer soul asked me this question: “If my work was really bad, would you tell me?”

The short answer is: No, it’s not my policy as an editor to sugarcoat the truth.

However, that’s not the question they were really asking.

When a client reaches out to ask about editing services, I usually have them fill out this form which includes a space to submit a 500-word sample of their work. Now we’ve all been traumatized to believe that whenever we submit a sample of our writing, we are sending our work off to be judged and found wanting, which is typically the case any time you submit your work for publication.

However, that is not the case when you’re submitting your work to me to consider for editing services (or, I would wager, any other developmental editor who asks for samples from potential clients.)

I’m not asking for a sample so I can read it and say, “Oho! This person needs editing! Haha!!” Because of course you need editing. You’re asking me for editing. (Also, everyone needs editing, especially me and especially Stephen King, I said what I said.)

I’m also not asking for a sample so I can read it and say, “Wow, this person is hopeless. Not wasting my time. Next!” No one can discern from 500 words alone if your writing is hopeless and you are unteachable. Just like only you can prevent forest fires, only you can decide if you’re a hopeless and unteachable writer.

What I am looking for when I ask for that sample are two things: 1) Grounding, and 2) Potential. In other words, I’m trying to figure out where you are right now on your writing journey and where you might be able to go or want to go. Ability has nothing to do with either of those things, save for your ability to be open to learning.

Back to the whole me-not-sugarcoating-the-truth thing.

Working with a developmental editor isn’t about someone else fixing your work so it’s publishable. Working with a developmental editor is about embarking on a learning journey, specifically with the work at hand. Learning is at the heart of our writer/editor relationship. And learning must start in a place free of judgment and full of trust.

You’re trusting me to offer my professional opinion of your work to make it stronger. (I say professional opinion and not professional judgement because opinions change with knowledge, while judgment is often final.) You’re trusting that I will tell you the truth and I’m trusting that you will be open to that truth.

But the thing about offering you my true, professional opinion as an editor is that there are layers to that opinion. A draft, in a nutshell, is a work that simultaneously has a long way to go in terms of improvement and is bursting with potential. The sample has nothing to do with me judging your ability to write or unilaterally deciding if something is “good” or “bad.” The sample is to help me decide what kind of touch to use when I offer my opinion.

Nit-picky editing on a draft that is clearly in an early stage with a writer who is new to the experience is a one-way ticket to dream-killing town. Nit-picky editing on a draft that is really close to ready with a writer who has put in the time is something completely different. Both require different approaches and time commitments. Seeing a sample helps me determine those things. That’s all. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So if you’re up to it, strap on the backpack and let’s hit the trail.