In my last blog, we discussed what a unique writing voice is, and the components it can be made of. This is important to recognise in your work, especially during editing, so you can make sure you don’t lose your voice in the changes and corrections. Whether you are editing your own work, getting peer feedback or working with a professional editor, your voice is something to enhance at this stage.
However, some writers feel they lose what makes the story theirs during editing. It can feel like editorial feedback is trying to rewrite your words, change your ideas and remove your style. But you wanted feedback to make changes to your story, so why do the changes make you unhappy?
You’re not alone in this feeling.
Stripping away the you from your writing is like someone painting over your canvas with a similar picture. The elements are still there but it’s not yours anymore.
So how do you protect your voice while still getting the feedback you need to improve?
Here are 4 things to keep in mind;
Pre-Edit discussions
Developmental Editing looks at the larger elements of your story such as structure, plot, pacing, themes and character. This is usually the stage where big changes will happen to a story if they are needed.
As we discussed, one area of your voice is what you choose to write, so a Developmental Edit can feel like all your ideas are being changed. This doesn’t mean you should avoid this stage of editing or ignore all the feedback, but it’s important to understand your goals and the core ideas of your story and discuss them with your editor beforehand.
An editor is there to enhance your writing, so knowing the elements that you want to build your story upon will give them a better understanding of your intentions. This allows them to look at potential issues and better evaluate ways to improve the manuscript.
For example, you are writing a multiple-POV story. Good feedback could be to focus on one POV per chapter or scene to prevent head-hopping. Feedback that might feel like overstepping could be to only tell the story from one POV and to scrap the others. This doesn’t necessarily mean this feedback is wrong, it would depend on the story, but the suggestion should come with an explanation to help you understand the root issue.
However, if you had discussed why using multiple-POVs is the way you want to tell the story and the impact you intended in using them, this informs the editor’s understanding, and the feedback might instead look something like; ‘The main POV that works really well is X’s. It’s engaging, moves the story along and builds intrigue. The POVs from Y and Z need some work. Their perspectives don’t add to the story or move the plot along, so I’d suggest working on their POVs by…’
The difference is in the focus of the feedback. There’s usually more than one way to address a narrative issue and understanding what story elements you want to preserve helps the editor make suggestions that best serve your story.
Unfortunately, there is no distinct line to give you to tell you whether a piece of feedback is intrusive on your voice or something to listen to, because not every conscious decision needs to be kept. Returning to the multiple-POV example, even though you purposefully wanted this element, editorial feedback may reveal it isn’t working in the way you intended it to.
It’s important to understand why a change is being suggested. Consider it and assess if the change improves your story. If it does, while staying aligned with your intentions, it’s likely to strengthen your voice.
Clarity over style
When you request feedback, whether it is from an editor, beta reader, peer or friend, you are asking them about their experience of your story. Not just if they enjoyed it, but whether they understood it, did the characters come alive, did it leave them wanting to fall in love or take down a corrupt government?
This is where clarity comes in.
You might want your reader to feel intrigued, uncertain or suspicious, but you don’t want them feeling overly confused. This can cause a reader to lose trust in the story and the writing, and potentially make them stop reading.
As the writer, you’re leading their experience as you guide them through the story and feedback can help you measure how successfully you’ve been in creating the intended experience. Maybe your writing style keeps readers further back or by your side, or it could include pointing out every landmark or wrapping them in fog, but you can’t leave them stranded and lost.
These choices are not always deliberate and sometimes naturally happen as you write the story. In this case, discussing your intention beforehand doesn’t work, however you could receive feedback that lets you know how your story comes across to the reader. Then, you can assess if this is the effect you want or look at how to adjust the outcome.
A recent example I discussed with an author was the main love interest becoming controlling to the point I, as the reader, didn’t want the couple to get together. I was certain this wasn’t the intention of the writer, so I pointed out the ways his controlling behaviour came across and suggested small tweaks to adjust his behaviour without huge changes to the scenes.
When choosing a style, you are thinking about creating a specific effect on the reader and the feedback should show you if you achieved it. If you haven’t, and need to adjust your approach. Your voice is still yours, it’s just more informed of how it’s being perceived.
Breaking rules
There are many writing dos and don’ts in the unwritten (and written) rules of writing. I often see them in videos online, polarising every rule as a must do or a definitely don’t, leaving no room for the grey area. And there’s a lot of grey. And your particular shade of grey is a part of your style.
Whether an intentional decision or not, your writing will sit somewhere between the polar opposites for every writing rule, and what is the point of rules if not for breaking <- said by the most goody two-shoes person you may ever meet.
However, understanding a writing rule is integral to breaking it. The rules are there for a reason, so understand it before you decide when and how to break them to enhance a reader’s experience. Otherwise, its style might be working against you.
An example of this is adverbs. Some writers draw a hard line with adverbs saying they should be used sparingly, if at all, but many books include them. We’ve all read a romance novel where the lovers look at each other dreamily, or touched each other tentatively, or they’ve kissed sloppily (okay, hopefully not that last one).
You might decide adverbs are great, but overuse of them can make writing frustrating to read, especially when they are redundant. One example that was the final straw before I DNF’d the book was ‘The sea raged angrily’. How else can something rage? Not only is it redundant in the sentence but it also dampens the strong verb and imagery. In this case, after many other issues, the sentence was another sign that the writing wasn’t having the intended effect on me, as the reader, and I eventually stopped reading.
When you break and bend rules, be careful to ensure choices are intentional and carefully consider feedback you receive around these choices.
Incorporating suggestions
Another way an author can feel like they’ve lost their voice is in how they incorporate an editor’s suggestions.
A good Developmental editor will likely provide some suggestions alongside their feedback to offer solutions or examples to strengthen their advice.
A paraphrased example from a recent report I did for a client; ‘I’ve noticed a theme of betrayal across your novel, but the scene where character A confronts character B about their specific betrayal isn’t included. I’d suggest lengthening chapter Y to include this moment. This will deepen the theme further into the narrative and meet reader’s expectations of seeing this moment.’
The suggestions might be very detailed or more general, but some writers feel the work is less their own if they use an editor’s ideas. This can feel uncomfortable or invasive and can leave you questioning if the story is still yours.
Though editing is a collaboration, and these suggestions are in response to your initial ideas, I can understand how suggestions can feel like someone else’s voice is invading your writing.
However, this doesn’t mean the feedback has to go to waste.
If you find yourself feeling this way, separate the identified problem from the solution the editor has provided.
Take the example above. The root issue is that a scene related to a core theme isn’t included, and the editor’s solution tells the writer what scene to add and where to add it. However, that isn’t the only solution.
- You could decide you don’t want betrayal to be a core theme, and lessen its impact through the story, or by highlighting another theme more.
- You could decide to deepen the betrayal theme through a different scene or relationship.
- You could purposefully skip over the confrontation scene and move straight to the fallout and look at the effects it has on the characters and their relationships.
The important thing is that the editor has highlighted a way to strengthen your story within the parameters of your intentions. You can then decide what changes to make and where to make them. Even if you find the editor’s suggestion is the best option, writing it in your own voice and style still makes the change unique to you and your story.
Conclusion
Editing shouldn’t strip away the part of your story that makes it yours, it should enhance your voice and embed it deeper in the narrative. Feedback helps you to understand what you’re trying to achieve, how successfully this is coming across to readers, and how you can make your story the best it can be.
In the cases where big changes are suggested, take time to assess the feedback and understand the explanations behind it. It could be your intention isn’t coming across or isn’t working for the story you’re writing. Consider these and find a solution that will work for you, but remember, the story is yours to tell in the way you want to tell it.
If you’d like any help in getting or understanding feedback on your writing, please feel free to get in touch, or follow along with my blog or Substack for tips on writing and editing.
FAQs
What is my writing voice? – Your writing voice is what makes your writing uniquely yours. It develops over time, but becomes a pattern your readers can identify in your work that they enjoy and connect with.
After getting feedback, how do I find motivation to start writing again? – Struggling with motivation to write is hard and such a block to productivity. Identifying what’s causing the block and trying some of my tips to get back on track will help.
I want to get feedback on my writing but I’m nervous. – This is completely normal. Getting feedback can feel daunting and overwhelming but you can take small steps to make it a little easier. Remember feedback is a way to improve, not an invitation for heaps of criticism.
I have just finished my first draft, what type of editing should I be doing now? – After a first draft you should try and edit your work by yourself first. One you’ve got it to a good place, there are a few main types of editing you can look at.
What is Developmental Editing? – Developmental Editing is a big-picture view of your story, looking at such things as the plot, characters, themes and consistency. It can be a time of bigger changes for your story but really helpful to improve your narrative before moving onto the paragraph and sentence level reviews of Line and Copy Editing.
Why is editing so expensive? – Editing can seem expensive but this price comes from the years of experience an editor brings and the hours of time they spend on a project. But you don’t have to hire the most expensive professional. There are ways to make editing more affordable, or you can boost your self-editing skills.
