Advice from a rabbit
In the Walt Disney movie Bambi, Mrs. Hare takes her son, Thumper, to task for his rudeness. He recites her words: "If you can't say somethin' nice, don't say nothin' at all."
That admonition to exercise tact has been turned on its head with a demand that any critique be buried amid compliments to soften any less than positive feedback. Unfortunately, that demand caters to a human unwillingness to tolerate discomfort, even when that discomfort offers a valuable lesson and leads to improvement.
Editors must learn the art of tact to avoid giving offense. (Unfortunately, tact is not one of my strong suits, so I struggle with this.) This is difficult, because the editor's job is to detect the flaws in a manuscript and either correct them or suggest how to correct them. Those flaws range from simple spelling and punctuation errors to substantive lapses in writing quality. Especially when dealing with a work of fiction to which the author's mind gives birth and into which the author inserts much of his or her own personality, pointing out flaws beyond the technical often comes across as harsh criticism.
That perception is compounded when the editor must use blunt language to ensure the author understands the problem so he or she can fix it. It's discomfiting, because polite and empty compliments don't lead to improvement.
When I send a manuscript to my editor, I request she be candid: "Be blunt. Don't feel like you have to tiptoe around my feelings." This, I believe, is critical, because I do not want to misinterpret her insights. Misinterpretation could steer my stories in unintended directions and introduce even more errors.
She's been my editor for about five years and has learned that I'm not going to blow my top because she says something I might not like. When the manuscript reaches the point of being ready for the editor, it's time to put personal feelings aside and concentrate on the quality of the writing and the story, regardless of how poorly I wrote it.
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With my latest manuscript to hit her desk, she performed the usual copyediting work, correcting those errors I failed to detect and correct during self-editing. In my message to her, I wrote, "Wow! I really dropped the ball on this one." I wrote that because I failed on several plot points. I left gaping holes in the story, dangling threads, and imcomplete details. It was embarrassing how much fell through the cracks ... and I'm grateful that using a good editor enables me to fix those issues before the book becomes available to the public.
I, as well as any author, need these insights. Her keen eyes and mind help me make my stories better. That's exactly what I aim for when I edit other authors' manuscripts. This doesn't justify cruelty, but neither does it mandate that every criticism be surrounded by the cotton wool of empty compliments.
No author is immune from the fatal flaw of not seeing his or her own manuscript's flaws. That objective third party whose goal is nothing more nor less than improving the manuscript is crucial to the improvement of the story. An author may write a good story without an editor, but why settle for merely good? An editor puts excellence within reach.
Every word counts.