MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Planning on writing a book about true events

pendragginp · 11-29-2014, 08:08 AM

But we can if we then turn it over to someone else whose strengths are grammar and spelling. That's the kind of thing that can be fixed by a good copy editor. What the copy editor can't do though is write the original story for him. Get it down, then get it right.

Ask me how I know - former editor who fixed many a terrible manuscript which under the wonky grammar or spelling contained a genuine story.

Many creative people are not good at those things, but we don't want to discourage the creativity for that reason. A new story is a shy and delicate thing - we don't want to crush it out early on by lumbering it with discouragement about things that are easily fixed later.

Methinks.

11-29-2014, 08:08 AM	#14
pendragginp Guru Posts: 985 Karma: 4567263 Join Date: May 2009 Location: The End Of The Earth Device: Several	But we can if we then turn it over to someone else whose strengths are grammar and spelling. That's the kind of thing that can be fixed by a good copy editor. What the copy editor can't do though is write the original story for him. Get it down, then get it right. Ask me how I know - former editor who fixed many a terrible manuscript which under the wonky grammar or spelling contained a genuine story. Many creative people are not good at those things, but we don't want to discourage the creativity for that reason. A new story is a shy and delicate thing - we don't want to crush it out early on by lumbering it with discouragement about things that are easily fixed later. Methinks. Last edited by pendragginp; 11-29-2014 at 08:14 AM.