The Happiness of Working with an Editor

You write for many reasons, but whether writing is your passion, your vocation, or something you are just beginning to do, I’m willing to bet that you write because it makes you happy.

Think about the way you feel when you know you’ve nailed a page of dialogue . . . or your article is accepted for publication in a national magazine . . . or you’re offered representation from a literary agent.

H-A-P-P-Y!

These are the moments a writer lives for, aren’t they?

But there is an often-overlooked piece of that happiness puzzle I’d like you to think about—the happiness that comes from working with a professional editor. Just the idea of taking that major step toward being a published author is enough to make authors giddy: check out J. R. Wolfe’s comment on her blog Dream, Envision . . . Write! where she shares, “Excited to begin the journey from a ‘wanna-be writer’ to published author over this next year. And I am extremely happy to have found someone who works well with me and my writing! “

Close your eyes for a moment and consider how you would feel if you had a trusted partner you could turn to for your all-important final editing. Think how much more time you could spend on writing! If you have worked with a professional editor in the past (at any stage from development to line editing to proofreading), you already understand the value an editor can add to your writing . . . and you’ll understand J. R. Wolfe’s enthusiastic announcement. As a professional freelance editor, I’ve had authors tell me how much my help has benefited their work.

Everyone has a story to tell, and I invite you to share yours. I’m in the process of writing a guest blog about how working with a professional editor increases your writing happiness, and if I choose your anecdote to include, the blog post will include a link to your blog or website—a great way to increase your blog readership.

So please share your thoughts with me: How has working with an editor increased your writing happiness? Has it made you a better writer? Did you increase your writing productivity? Did readers praise your work? Comment below or email me at cyjohnson5580@gmail.com with your story and let me know how working with a professional editor brought you happiness.

Thanks for sharing!

—Candace

Image courtesy of farconville at FreeDigitalPhotos.net