{"id":167661,"date":"2025-06-13T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/townhouse\/?p=167661"},"modified":"2025-06-13T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T09:00:00","slug":"when-and-if-to-get-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/when-and-if-to-get-help\/","title":{"rendered":"When (and if) to get help"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>We\u2019ve talked about editing for five weeks now. Those of you following Debi Alper\u2019s superb online Introduction to Self-Editing Your Novel course are reaching its end. (The course is free to members. Interested? <a href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/creative-writing-courses\/introduction-to-self-editing-your-novel-video-course\/\">Learn more<\/a>.) And there\u2019s one big topic we haven\u2019t yet broached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What about third-party help? Do you need it? And when do you need it? And what does an external editor do that a keen self-editor cannot? Today we\u2019ll crack open that can of worms \u2013 or rather, we\u2019ll use the handy little ring-pull which enables easy no-crack access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And let me start by saying two things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Number one, you don\u2019t get better than a Jericho Writers editor. We use absolutely first class people and we scrutinise their work and if they don\u2019t meet our standards \u2013 consistently \u2013 they will stop being a Jericho Writers editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The quality of editing is not something you can easily tell from a resum\u00e9. We have some spectacular editors who have not written bestsellers, or commissioned Hilary Mantel and Dan Brown and the entire <em>Where\u2019s Wally<\/em> series. But those people are spectacularly good at editing, which is why we use them. So: if you do choose to get third-party editing, you\u2019re in very safe hands with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Number two: you don\u2019t need third-party editing. You may want it. You would certainly draw value from it. But you don\u2019t need it. My first book never got third-party editing before I went out to agents. (I wanted it, but couldn\u2019t afford it). But I secured an agent without too much fuss, then had a multi-publisher bidding war for the book, and it became a bestseller. So: good results can happen with no early third-party involvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And yes, it\u2019s true that more and more writers are using external editors early on in their journey, and yes, it\u2019s true that that does somewhat alter an agent\u2019s perceptions of what to expect. But that doesn\u2019t amount to me saying that you <em>need<\/em> an editor. You may not. I got an agent because I wrote a 180,000 word manuscript and I got an agent sitting up till 2.00 in the morning because she couldn\u2019t go to bed until she\u2019d finished it. That\u2019s the basic outcome that you need to achieve. There is no single way to achieve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So \u2013 I\u2019ve plugged our services (honestly) and I\u2019ve told you (also honestly) that you may not need them. But now let\u2019s dig into the ins and outs of all this. Here are some guidelines to hold onto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Know the craft<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You probably won\u2019t get a novel to a truly publishable standard unless you know your craft. I don\u2019t care how you acquire that knowledge \u2013 books and blogs, festivals and feedback groups, courses and classes: they\u2019re all good. But know your craft. You won\u2019t be properly attuned to the countless errors you can make until you\u2019ve done that groundwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Edit hard \u2013 harder than you think<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My first novel was 180,000 words long. When I got to the end of it, I realised I\u2019d got better as I\u2019d gone on. So I deleted the first 60,000 words and rewrote them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I edited so many times that (going slightly crazy and getting close to the finish line) I went through the whole damn book just to delete surplus commas. (A copy-editor later put them all back, but she put a nice curl on them and settled them just so.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a very rough rule of thumb, half your time should be spent writing and another half editing. If one half is going to be bigger, I\u2019d make it the editing half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I stress this, because you will get vastly more value from a JW editor if you\u2019ve done the work yourself first. Sometimes we get people who send us their manuscripts, and we come back with a report that says Character X is missing this, and Plot Point Y is awry because of that and so on. And the writer tells us, in effect, \u201cYes, I know all that, but if I fix those things, then what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And \u2026 well, we\u2019re not magicians. We can only read what\u2019s on the page. Ideally, you would only come to us for editing help if (i) you find yourself going round in circles or (ii) you just don\u2019t know what to do next. But put in the hard yards yourself first. We can be much more productive if you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nothing wrong with testing the water first<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Approaching agents is free. Getting editing help from us costs. So a perfectly sensible strategy is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Write a book<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Edit the heck out of it<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Send it to around 10 agents; see what they say<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If they take you on, then yippedee-doo-dah. Happy days. If they don\u2019t, then \u2026<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Either:<ol><li>Re-edit the work if something an agent has said gives you a flash of insight. You can send it out again if you genuinely feel that flash has been transformative. or<\/li><\/ol>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Come to us for a manuscript assessment.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>I wouldn\u2019t go crazy with the agent submissions. I think it\u2019s just disrespectful to bombard agents. But sending out material to 10-12 agents? Nowt wrong with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How to use advice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because I\u2019ve just spoken about agents and any feedback you may get from them, let me just say now that editorial advice is only ever advice. It\u2019s not a command. It\u2019s not a stone tablet, ablaze with light, brought wonderingly down the slopes of Mount Sinai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If a particular comment gives you a moment of insight, of recognition, of YES, then work with it. If a comment just doesn\u2019t quite make sense to you, then leave it. Or, to be more accurate: consider it. Very often, an editor may feel a discomfort around X, but their practical suggestion as to what to do doesn\u2019t feel right. In which case, figure out if you feel the editor was right to have that discomfort (they usually are), then consider what you want to do about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You are the boss of your own words, always. You should never write text at someone else\u2019s bidding if it doesn\u2019t feel right to you. As a very rough guide, about 60% of the time, you\u2019ll feel that an editor is spot on. A further 20% of the time, you\u2019ll think, \u201cright issue, wrong solution\u201d and go your own way on the topic. And there\u2019s a good chunk of the time where (especially if you\u2019re a stubborn sod, like me) you just think, \u201cNo, I like what I wrote\u201d and take no action at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When you really, really should come to us for help<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mostly, I think it\u2019s totally up to you when and whether you want to use our editorial help. There\u2019s just one category, where I think you\u2019re pretty much nuts if you don\u2019t use us. I\u2019m thinking here of writers who have had a lot of \u201calmost but not quite\u201d type rejections from agents. If you keep coming close to the prize, then \u2013 sweet Lord \u2013 get yourself over the line. There\u2019s nothing more powerful than third-party editorial advice in improving a manuscript. It won\u2019t always work to get you over that line, but there ain\u2019t nothing better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What help to get when?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The default for almost everyone should be a full <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/our-services\/jericho-editors-room\/manuscript-assessment\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/our-services\/jericho-editors-room\/manuscript-assessment\/\">manuscript assessment<\/a><\/strong>. With that, you get a pro editor to read every darn page of your work and give you a detailed, detailed report on what\u2019s working and (especially) what isn\u2019t working and how to fix it. This, in effect, is the backbone of any big publisher\u2019s editorial process. Every manuscript I\u2019ve ever written has gone through that process. Every single one has been improved (except maybe for one, where I had a terrible editor who butchered the book, then published it badly, and lost a ton of money on it. But that really is a rare exception.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019ve already had a manuscript assessment and you think you\u2019re close to the finish line, then you could think about getting a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/editorial-services\/developmental-editing\/\">development edit<\/a><\/strong>. With that, you get the detailed report AND on-page text commentary and correction. I don\u2019t really like that as a starter service though for anyone. If your book has some fundamental issues (and most books that come to us do), then the on-page correction is effectively swatted aside by some of the more structural edits that are needed. It makes no sense to wallpaper a room, if some of the walls are in the wrong place. But if your manuscript is close to the finish line, then, for sure, a development edit has its place. Our office team won\u2019t let you do a dev edit before you\u2019re ready, so feel free to have an open discussion with them about options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And finally, there\u2019s the whole area of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/editorial-services\/copy-editing\/\">copy-editing<\/a><\/strong> with lighter (<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/editorial-services\/proof-reading\/\">proofreading<\/a><\/strong>) and heavier (<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/editorial-services\/line-editing\/\">line-editing<\/a><\/strong>) flavours available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most writers won\u2019t need those services at all. If you get traditionally published, your publisher will pay for all that stuff. You can just sit back and admire those handsomely placed commas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The group that will certainly need copy-editing is anyone heading for self-publishing: these days, you just can\u2019t hope to win with a shoddily presented manuscript. A scattered group that may think copy-editing is wise includes anyone with sensible reason to doubt their presentation (eg: English as a second language, or dyslexia.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Either way though. The \u201cedit hard yourself\u201d rule still applies. Sometimes we get a really poorly presented manuscript and the writer is assuming that our copy-editor will just work a kind of magic with it. Not so, old buddy, not so. Your job here is the same: bring the editor the cleanest manuscript you possibly can. I guess a copy-editor picks up 95% or maybe even 99% of issues, but if you have hundreds and thousands of errors and problems scattered through the text, no editor will pick them all up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The sorrow and the joy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t expect editorial feedback to be an all-joyous thing. It isn\u2019t. You bring us your precious baby hoping for us to dart her off to some Festival of Glorious Infants \u2026 but instead, we\u2019re much more likely to tell you that your lovely babe has some terrible problems and will need immediate surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I honestly want to tell our editorial clients to wait 48 hours before emailing us after an MS assessment. You\u2019re likely to have some shock and\/or upset, before that gives way to a kind of relieved euphoria. The euphoria, were it to speak, would say (in ancient Greek of course, but I\u2019ll translate), \u201cWise editor, you have found what is worthy in my book and what is to be cast out. I venerate all that you have done and know that my feet are now set on the path of Righteous Endeavour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You will feel relieved (to have the issues made clear to you) and energised (because you know just what to do and how to do it.) You should also feel the book rebuilding itself as you work on it. You should feel it becoming steadily and predictably better as you go through your to do list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For some writers, this is a one-off process. For others, it isn\u2019t. There\u2019s no right or wrong; only what\u2019s right for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to know more, contact our office team (you can just hit reply). They won\u2019t try to sell you anything that\u2019s not right for you. Our only real instruction to them is \u201chonesty, always.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s it from me. Debi\u2019s Last Assignment follows \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Til soon,&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harry&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>FEEDBACK FRIDAY:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This week, it\u2019s <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/lesson\/assignment-six-4\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Assignment Six<\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong>from Debi Alper&#8217;s <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/creative-writing-courses\/introduction-to-self-editing-your-novel-video-course\/?utm_source=IS&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=HFE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Introduction to Self-Editing<\/a><\/strong> course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Revise a scene from your novel, applying the techniques you\u2019ve learned from this course. Share in the forum. Make sure to add feedback on others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(This fantastic, self-directed video course is FREE to Premium Members. If you\u2019re not one yet, you know what to do: join us <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/join-us\/?utm_source=IS&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=HFE\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>!Alternatively, you can buy the course as a <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/creative-writing-courses\/introduction-to-self-editing-your-novel-video-course\/?utm_source=IS&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=HFE\" target=\"_blank\">one-off<\/a><\/strong> for \u00a399.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you&#8217;re ready, log in to the <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/townhouse\/forums\/forum\/introduction-to-self-editing-your-novel\/assignment-six\/\" target=\"_blank\">forum<\/a><\/strong> and share your work. Make sure to add feedback on other people&#8217;s work, too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Til soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harry<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019ve talked about editing for five weeks now. Those of you following Debi Alper\u2019s superb online Introduction to Self-Editing Your Novel course are reaching its end. (The course is free to members. Interested? Learn more.) And there\u2019s one big topic we haven\u2019t yet broached. What about third-party help? Do you need it? And when do<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":98318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29292],"tags":[29298,29213,286],"class_list":["post-167661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-harrys-friday-email","tag-self-editing","tag-harry-friday-email","tag-editing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Jericho Writers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/when-and-if-to-get-help\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When (and if) to get help &#8211; Jericho Writers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We\u2019ve talked about editing for five weeks now. Those of you following Debi Alper\u2019s superb online Introduction to Self-Editing Your Novel course are reaching its end. (The course is free to members. Interested? Learn more.) And there\u2019s one big topic we haven\u2019t yet broached. What about third-party help? Do you need it? 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Do you need it? 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