How Much Editing Is Too Much?

The role of copyeditor is a thankless one.

Lots of prima donna writers out there wedded to every word. Right?

Well, not exactly.

We writers take pride in our work. We choose words carefully, knowing that they have power to convey ideas and emotions and to create a picture in the reader’s mind. So we understandably get a bit rankled when a copyeditor gets a bit overly zealous.

This happened to me recently. A short story I wrote in answer to a call for submissions to an anthology was accepted in March. In mid-September, I got the edited version for my review and was told I could either accept the edits or withdraw the story. Using Word’s compare and merge documents feature (saves a lot of time and frustration), I created a document that compared their version with what I had submitted. It showed that about a third of the copy was gone, paragraphs had been rewritten in a way that made no sense, technical terms had been dumbed down (or were now inaccurate), and my overall voice was gone.

Sentences were chopped into short bits, character motivation and descriptive scenes eliminated, and more. (Note: I have been writing for forty years, have been edited before and have also served as both site editor and copyeditor. No prima donna stuff here. Just a high level of professionalism and pride in my work that I wish others had.)

There were other issues, too. For example, the copyeditor thought I was a simpleton and hadn’t bothered to look up the name of the university in the city named. Hardly. I simply hadn’t wanted to name it, but he/she had. Additionally, there were other stylistic edits that made no sense to me and would have caused confusion for the reader. I am very careful about the punctuation I use in dialogue, as shown in my article Speaking Literarily. The copyeditor undid that care.

The story was no longer mine. It sounded like so much of the pap being published these days.

At this point, we writers have to make a decision: let it ride and at least have our name out there on something published for the “exposure” (did I mention that this publisher does not pay for stories?), push back (which the editor made clear I couldn’t do), or withdraw the story.

What you might do in this situation is purely your choice. But for me, the choice was clear – I withdrew the story.

The Big Issue for You as a Writer

If a copyeditor gets this heavy-handed with your work, then who is the real author, you or the copyeditor? Plus, if you’re not happy with the edits, trust that instinct, and remember that your name is going to be on that story. How useful is that “exposure” if the edited story isn’t representative of your writing and if your writer’s voice is obliterated?

Yes, some edits will always be needed (the copyeditor for this publisher caught a few things that I should have). Be open to these.

However, if the publisher/editor thinks that more is required, he/she has choices: reject the story or send it back to the author with suggestions for edits. (In my case, the publisher had plenty of time – six months – to get back to me.) Be ready for this and consider the suggestions seriously and carefully. They are, after all, creating a product for sale and are taking a risk that your story will help drive sales.

Please check out my article here on the various types of editors and their roles.

Some Reactions on Social Media

Some feedback from other writers on social media (one or two are rather blunt):

• “F--k them. Withdraw the story.”

• “Can’t understand why publishers do that. Why outsource stories if you don’t actually want the stories that you accept? No personal experience, but it sounds like a common problem.”

• “It stops being your story when you decide it has. Which can even vary from story to story.”

• “Have you pushed back? Have you explained how their edits change your story? I haven't experienced it to that degree, but I've been rankled by editing. Sometimes you just have to shrug.”

• “To date I have only withdrawn one story under those terms. The editor wanted me to change the ending, and I thought the ending that was requested would have cut all of the drama out of the story.”

• “Man I hear you. Some shit like that happened to me early on and now I do everything Indie. If this is common for editors, no wonder so much [sic] stuff is pap”

• “It's easier to mangle someone else's original work than to allow it to succeed or fail on its own merits. If it succeeds, it's due to their interference: if it fails, it's due to the original author's lack of talent. This is an exercise in power mechanics shielded from consequence by blamethrowing. … It's easier to usurp someone else's original characters, settings, and broad plot points than to be original in one's own right. The trick is finding a way to plagiarize in plain sight with impunity.”

• “As someone who has worked as an editor and copy editor for online magazines, this infuriates me. I took over the copy editing duties of the one 'zine because the copy editor we had would edit stories until the author's voice was demolished. I'd have to go back through to the original and restore then re-edit. So I cut out the middleman. I hope you can find a good home for your story!”

• “Really doesn’t seem right. I agree with you, though. I wouldn’t want my name on work someone else butchered.”

• “I don’t understand why they would accept a story if they want to completely gut it.”

My thanks to all who responded. The experience is a lesson to me, one that I hope you fellow writers will also keep in mind should you have a similar situation.

Final Note

Continue writing. Continue seeking avenues to get your work out there, including self-publishing. And develop a trusting relationship with an editor, someone who will respect your voice.

Hope you found this helpful and have been inspired to start and/or continue writing!

See my article: Publisher Agent Fiction Genres Defined, with downloadable PDF (https://accargillauthor.wordpress.com/2022/09/26/publisher-agent-fiction-genres-defined/).

Please check out my works in progress (WIPs) (https://accargillauthor.wordpress.com/my-works-in-progress-wips/). And thanks for reading.

Disclaimer: I get no compensation for links to other sites and/or products in this post or on my site.