Editing

No.11 in an occasional series on writing non fiction

In fiction it is true to say that you cannot edit your own work. At very least it needs a capable beta reader if not a professional editor to work through the manuscript you thought was finished.

Editing non-fiction can be complicated by the subject matter, as even a skilled editor may know very little about Greek pottery of the Aegean or rebuilding rotary engines. However, if you have written a book for the non-specialist reader it should require no prior knowledge to read and understand. Your editor will be able to give you an honest verdict of whether you have achieved your aim.

Make the editor’s job as easy as possible by producing the cleanest manuscript you can. This will also reduce costs if you are paying for professional editing. Checking spelling is particularly important in non-fiction given the profusion of names, foreign words and technical terms you may employ relative to a contemporary novel. Cross-check all your internal references, such as ‘see fig. 4’ and your external citations. Keep referring to your style sheet – it’s why you have one (see previous blog).

Do not, whatever you do, regard your manuscript as perfect and zip it off to a publisher/agent or self-publishing portal without input from an editor or beta reader(s). Tens of thousands of non-fiction works are published each year, and you want to stand out from the pack. If you opt to pay for a professional editor, ask for personal recommendations from fellow writers. Be aware that the internet is infested by fake editorial and book marketing scams, and even if bona fide a cut-price editor will deliver the quality you paid for.

We have already talked about making sure your book works in terms of what it purports to deliver. To ensure that others agree, consider having it peer-reviewed by someone equally knowledgeable in that field as you. This person will do a far better job than a beta reader from your book group who is just looking for typos and skimming over the detail. It can be a painful process after so much work if your peer is critical but taking account of their comments will make for a better book. When I wrote The Roman Pottery of York the draft manuscript was read by three senior academics above me in the organisation plus an in-house editor. My draft text was printed down the centre of A3 tractor-feed paper and my colleagues filled the empty space either side with hand-written comments and queries.

You do not have to make every change suggested and you can disagree with the opinion of an editor, peer reviewer or beta reader. However, if they found a problem with a particular word, phrase or argument your readers might too. If they are your publisher or your boss, you will need to back up your objection with facts. Look again at what you have written. Is there a more appropriate word you can use? Is what you have said supported by the evidence you have presented? Does that sentence make sense in the cold light of day? One of my teachers’ mottoes was “If I know what I have written is rubbish, then so will the person who reads it”.

Reading your work aloud is often a good way to spot sentences that are too long or too convoluted. It will also help you spot repetition, both of facts and choice of words. There are of course whole books and training courses created to develop the skill of editing.

Ultimately, even if professionally edited your book will need proof-reading just as any other work. This is where your style sheet comes into play again. Typos and spelling mistakes are obvious things to look for, but the non-fiction work has complications including tables, diagrams, photographs and captions. Layout becomes important, particularly if you are self-publishing or sending your work to a small press with limited in-house editing skills. The person setting your text won’t necessarily spot that a number has drifted from one column of a table to the next or that figures 37 and 38 have their captions transposed. It will not be obvious to most staff in a publisher’s office which bomber in the photographs is a B-17E and which a B-17G.

Even though your publisher may want separate files for the text, illustrations, tables, captions and end notes it is worth mocking up a finished volume to check that everything clicks. Keep the original files separate and don’t be tempted to merge everything with the idea you’ll de-merge it later. Be aware that this is your mock-up, and if you need to make changes, you’ll need to go back to your main files and do the work there.

It looks like you have a book.