When is the right time to approach an editor?

This is one of the most common questions I receive from new writers and aspiring authors. There is often a great amount of uncertainty around this point, or often this doesn’t seem to be taken into consideration when I am approached by newer writers.

If you’re a writer (or editor!) who needs some direction when it comes to this topic, I have broken the process down into five main questions that you should ask yourself. If you’re able to answer these five questions with certainty and a clear idea of your own direction, then it is likely the right time for you to seek an editor.

1. What are my writing goals?

Odds are, seeing as you are reading this, you have already answered this question. However, I do want to bring it to light as this should be the first thing you should be assessing about your writing.

This question means asking yourself what you intend to do with your writing. Are you writing to get published, to self-publish your work for the trade market, or is your writing for your own personal use?

I think it goes without saying that if you are not intending to publish your work and pursue writing as a form of career, then you likely don’t need to reach out to an editor. While I say this, of course you can do what you like with your personal work, but I do want to stress that it can be a costly investment to have a freelancer edit your work.

In terms of traditional publishing versus self-publishing, you are less likely to need a freelance editor if you are looking to go the traditional publishing route.

Publishers have their own editors who will go through the editing process with you. That being said, it can bolster your chances of being published if you have your work edited. Though most of the time, with your own efforts in self-editing, you can get to that point without the help of a freelancer.

To those self-publishing authors reading this: I highly recommend hiring an editor as part of your publishing process. It’s easy to get married to your own work and overlook the finer details of your manuscript, which is why you will gain the most benefit in hiring a freelance editor.

2. What stage of writing am I at?

This is a rather subjective question to ask yourself, but it is a very important one. What I mean by this is asking yourself where you are in your writing journey.

As Stephen King said in his book On Writing (a brilliant read, by the way!), ‘If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut’.

This quote does a brilliant job of highlighting that writing, much like most other skills, is something that improves with practice.

I am often approached by new writers who have written their first draft of their first novel and are looking for an editor to help them get it published. It is very rare that such a writer is going to become the next NY Times Bestseller.

Think critically about this question to help determine whether you are ready for publication and for reaching out to an editor. The best advice I can give here, is write, write, write!

Do your best to also learn about writing, crafting stories, and the publishing process. There are many resources online, books, workshops and certifications that can teach you a lot about writing that will do far more for you than reaching out to an editor off the bat.

3. Have I received other feedback?

One of the first, and best, things you can do before seeking an editor is to have others read your work. Often, this will involve asking your family, close friends, your book club, or even your high school English teacher to read your manuscript or writing. While it is better to have someone who reads often or has some good knowledge of writing, it can be very helpful to just have someone read your work to get some first impressions.

As a freelance editor, this is one of the first things I ask potential clients who reach out to me for an edit. It’s good to know that the writer has had some previous form of feedback on their work and may have worked on some of the more noticeable issues of their draft first.

What I absolutely, full-heartedly, recommend is to look into joining a writing group first. Writing groups are a great way to have those who are interested in the craft of writing read your work and provide that initial feedback.

Writing groups can encompass you and some local writers you know who get together to write and discuss ideas, or they can be more formal writing groups held by a local writing centre or organisation. Such groups can help foster an environment for you to learn more about writing, give you the space you need to write, and to have people you can bounce ideas off to help you navigate the art.

If you’ve struggled to find any local writing groups, have a look online too! There are many virtual writing groups around, as well as various forums and the like that have writing groups. When I started my journey into writing, I joined up on Scribophile—a great online writing group that works on a karma system. So, the more you critique and help other writers, the more you can post your own work to be critiqued.

4. How much self-editing have I done?

Learning to self-edit will be far more valuable to you as a budding writer than jumping straight to an editor after completing a first draft. Editors don’t typically come cheap, so spending some money on self-editing classes or workshops will benefit you far more in the long run.

Self-editing will involve going through your manuscript with a fine-toothed comb and a critical eye to fix up any plot holes, to help strengthen any weaker characters, and perhaps rewriting scenes to improve on the impact they have in your story.

A second aspect to learning to self-edit is that you will learn so much more about the writing process that way. Not only will this mean you will write better in the future, but it also means you will become more publishable as there is no reliance on an editor to refine your work.

Working with an editor is just that: working with the editor. Having a clear understanding and deep knowledge of writing will mean you get far more out of an editor, as the editor can focus on the finer details of your manuscript without needing to address all the basics first. Ultimately, this will also reduce the number of rounds of editing you will need to go through with the editor.

5. Have I identified my own weaknesses and need help to address them?

Following a robust self-edit, you may find yourself at the stage of knowing where the weaknesses are in your manuscript. This is a great place to be in, as you can then work on those weaknesses specifically.

Knowing these weaknesses is a clear indication that you have thought critically about your own writing, and you have already put in the effort to learn to write better.

Once you hit a point of identifying and knowing these weaknesses, but you cannot fix them on your own—either because you need to learn more about that aspect or perhaps because you are so close to your own work that you can’t see the solution—then you are at the right point for seeking an editor’s help. The editor can provide a fresh perspective on the weakness and help to improve on it from there.

At this stage, these questions should have helped give you some direction in your decision to approach an editor.

While much of what I have said seems like hard and fast rules, don’t take them as such. I’ve pulled on my experience working with a varying range of writers and have simplified these questions to help you ensure that you are investing your time and money in the right place.