Declare War on Bad Writing

This unedited sentence from an Associated Press news story recently popped up on my Facebook memories feed:

The United States and NATO formally ended their war in Afghanistan on Sunday with a ceremony at their military headquarters in Kabul as the insurgency they fought for 13 years remains as ferocious and deadly as at any time since the 2001 invasion that unseated the Taliban regime following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Whew! That “sentence-graph,” as my wife called it, went out to hundreds of newspapers, radio stations, and other media outlets worldwide. Having worked in several newsrooms throughout my career, I can envision reporters and editors pulling their hair out as they rewrote the sentence-graph into something that made sense.

I work with many authors as a ghostwriter or editor, and we all write poor sentences or sentence-graphs occasionally. But smart authors hire an outside editor to review their manuscript before it goes to a publisher. The savvy editor uses their experience to fix poorly written copy, grammar, punctuation errors, and story flow. A good editor also utilizes other helps, such as Grammarly, which catches spelling errors and flags awkward phrasing, grammar, punctuation, dropped words, and incorrect word usage.

An editor does more than correct improper grammar, dropped words, or awkward phrasing. An astute editor will spot weak storylines, poor character development, timeline issues, and narrative gaps. Your editor sees through the reader’s eyes and asks questions the reader would ask as they read your manuscript. For example, suppose you suddenly introduce a character without explanation. In that case, your editor will want you to develop that character because the reader will ask, “who is this person, and why are they important to the story?” I’ve read too many manuscripts that lost me by page two due to a rambling storyline, undeveloped characters, holes in the plot, and a dysfunctional “feel” to the narrative.

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Another great tip I learned during my first career in radio is: Read your text aloud. When reading silently, our brains automatically fill in dropped words or skim by spelling errors. However, reading your copy aloud catches these errors and helps you find awkward phrasing. Yes, you will feel self-conscious reading out loud at first, but you will quickly get used to it. And it will be worth it when you discover you accidentally wrote “pubic” instead of “public” in your manuscript! Been there, done that!

Some clients hire me to ghostwrite their books because they don’t have the time or inclination to do so. So, while I utilize all the techniques I’ve just described, I also employ an outside editor to review my work. It is a truism that you stop seeing errors after looking at the same piece of copy multiple times. Bringing in a second pair of eyes helps catch mistakes you may have overlooked, and in the end, the client gets a better product.

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Danger, Will Robinson…One word of caution: You can find editors on many online services. However, you should beware of “writing mills,” such as Fiverr or Upwork, where editors bid on projects. While some good editors are on these sites, many do not speak English as their first language. Many also work for meager rates of one to five cents a word. Don’t be fooled! A professional editor should charge you anywhere from $35 to $60 an hour, according to the 2022 Writer’s Market Guide. As with anything else in life, you get what you pay for.

“I don’t need an editor because I can write and publish my book on Amazon,” one prospective client told me. He is correct; nowadays, anyone can be a “published author” on Amazon and add that to their LinkedIn and Facebook profiles or resume. Unfortunately, many of these books are poorly written with little to no editing, ultimately reflected in poor sales or critical reviews.

The bottom line is that your book needs to be well-written and professionally edited to stand out in the marketplace. Declare war on bad writing by taking the time and spending the money to hire someone to polish your manuscript and make it shine. Your editor will help you strengthen your plot, develop the characters, compelling tell the story, and keep the reader turning the page. Isn’t that what you want for your labor of love?