What Does an Editor Do — That Spell Check and AI Can’t?

There’s a common misconception that editors are essentially just glorified spellcheckers. But editing actually goes well beyond just looking for misspellings and comma splices. So let’s take a look at what editors actually do — that spell-check tools and AI can’t.

Provide Objective Feedback

Most writers, when they finish their manuscript, turn to friends and family for feedback. But your family members and friends are arguably the worst possible options if you’re looking for a genuine critique of your book, and here’s why:

• They don’t want to hurt your feelings, so they won’t be critical — Great if you’re looking for an ego boost, but not so good if you actually want to make your book the best it can be.

• Even if they’re avid readers, they’re not editors, so they don’t necessarily know what to look for or address — Unless your friend is an English teacher, you’ll probably just get some variation of: “It was great! I loved it!” Which may or may not be entirely truthful. (If they are an English teacher, they’ll give you a long monologue about your frequent use of the color red and how it represents the inner rage of your main character. You’ll nod and smile and pretend like it was intentional, when in reality, you just really like red. Either way — not helpful.)

• They have busy lives and don’t have the time to carefully read and critique your manuscript — You could probably resort to bribery or guilt them into it, but do you really want to be that person?

• In all honesty, unedited books typically aren’t the most enjoyable reads — Sure, they’ve all said, “Wow! You’re writing a book? I can’t wait to read it!” But what they really meant was, “I’ll definitely add your book to my TBR pile. You know, after it’s actually finished.”

Now editors, on the other hand, love reading unfinished, unpolished books and figuring out how to make them better. They know what to look for, and they are more than happy to (tactfully) point out areas or aspects that need improvement. Constructive criticism can be uncomfortable, but it’s the core of editing, and without it, you’ll never grow as a writer.

Refine Your Writing

Authors are often afraid that an editor will strip away their voice and style and force them to conform to some generic industry standard, but this could not be further from the truth (unless you have just a really bad editor). Editors are there to help you develop and refine your natural writing style. A good editor will show you how to improve the flow, clarity, and impact of your writing, without eliminating everything that makes it unique.

Ensure Consistency

Continuity issues are easy to overlook, especially in your own writing. But an editor will check for consistency throughout your manuscript, from the major . . .

“So . . . these characters are both cousins and siblings? What the Alabama is going on in that family?”

to the minor . . .

“Just FYI, your character is now wearing three pairs of sunglasses — simultaneously.”

This means checking for things like timeline deviations, variations in spelling, and naming, verbiage, and character consistency. For example, your character may start off with blond hair, but then it inexplicably becomes brown. Or maybe your city was founded in 1817, but an event supposedly took place there in 1796. Editors dig into all of these little details to make sure that your story is cohesive and consistent.

To Sum It Up

Spellcheckers and AI can be great tools for proofreading, but an editor will go beyond just correcting grammatical and punctuation errors. A good editor will help you improve the quality of your writing, develop and refine your voice and style, give you valuable, objective feedback, and ensure consistency throughout your manuscript.

And since we’re all well aware that I’m talking about myself (it’s me, I’m the good editor), here’s where you can learn more about my editing services. If you’re ready to go beyond basic proofreading and take your writing to the next level, I’m ready to help!