E035 Myths of Being a Freelance Editor

10/24/23 • 40 min

Key takeaway: Randy gives an overview of what an editor does, how editors work, and why a writer might benefit from the various services an editor can provide. Suggestions for budding authors and editors.

Topics covered in this video:

A day in the life of an editor - Randy’s path to becoming an editor, and how he spends his time now
Paid work, free work, people have multiple motives for wanting to work as editors (including supporting their writing careers)
How does an amateur editor get additional skills? Developmental editors versus copy editors and line editors.
Story Grid development editing, Editor certification course - system & methodology of editing. What are the elements of a story that people expect to see?
Picking clients - how to match editors with clients (and vice versa). Randy’s discovery call
Editing vs. outlining vs. book coach vs. ghostwriting
Why it’s so helpful to just finish a draft of your book
Scenes are the basic building blocks of a book - can a person write a compelling scene: conflict, action, internal dilemmas, etc.
Handling feedback - clients who listen, and those who aren’t ready
How the editing business model works for Randy: charging by the word, by session, ghost writing per hour
Hard to edit your own work - an independent look is necessary
How Randy’s editing skills have allowed him to help with other types of writing: newsletters, applications, essays
Genre expertise - editors can improve anything, but genre expertise is helpful

Resources in this video

The Story Grid, Sean Coyne

The Hero’s Journey, Joseph Cambell

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Randy's Editor Webpage: https://randysurles.com/

Topics covered in this video:

A day in the life of an editor - Randy’s path to becoming an editor, and how he spends his time now
Paid work, free work, people have multiple motives for wanting to work as editors (including supporting their writing careers)
How does an amateur editor get additional skills? Developmental editors versus copy editors and line editors.
Story Grid development editing, Editor certification course - system & methodology of editing. What are the elements of a story that people expect to see?
Picking clients - how to match editors with clients (and vice versa). Randy’s discovery call
Editing vs. outlining vs. book coach vs. ghostwriting
Why it’s so helpful to just finish a draft of your book
Scenes are the basic building blocks of a book - can a person write a compelling scene: conflict, action, internal dilemmas, etc.
Handling feedback - clients who listen, and those who aren’t ready
How the editing business model works for Randy: charging by the word, by session, ghost writing per hour
Hard to edit your own work - an independent look is necessary
How Randy’s editing skills have allowed him to help with other types of writing: newsletters, applications, essays
Genre expertise - editors can improve anything, but genre expertise is helpful

Resources in this video

The Story Grid, Sean Coyne

The Hero’s Journey, Joseph Cambell

Support the show

Previous Episode

E034 Conformity and Nonconformity

Passionately Wrong Podcast Episode E034

Conformity and Nonconformity

Key takeaway: Conformism vs. nonconformism is an issue that comes up often in life. It comes up when you are young and trying to figure out what to do. It comes up in business. Consider the context, be thoughtful, and accept that there’s probably a reason for the rule. Be effective when challenging rules by showing you understand the context.

Topics covered in this video:

When should you do what other people are doing and why? When can you go your own way?
How the military approaches conformity and why (nonconformity is not an option).
Companies also have rules and regulations. It’s necessary to understand the reasons for a rule before you should challenge it. That’s a better way to help organizations adapt over time.
When it’s appropriate to conform as an individual: rules are beneficial and following them will increase your odds of success (e.g. go to school, get an education, start work before you get married), following the rules is beneficial to your success
When you’re new to an organization, it’s helpful to conform at first while you gather background information to understand why the rules are the way they are
Nonconformity means bucking the majority trend (what everyone else does), standing out
Achieving exceptional results may require nonconformity
Consider behavior in terms of risk-taking: consider downsides as well as upsides
If you’re the leader, it helps to explain why rules were put in place: increases compliance, gives people a chance to ask questions, allows for updating of rules
Cultural norms influence individuals’ willingness to conform to societal rules
Your compliance with a rule has an impact on others around you - are you being nonconformist to improve your own life, or to be provocative or even offensive?
Mindless adherence to rules that defy common sense is also problematic

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Next Episode

E036 Why Don't Smart People Agree?

Passionately Wrong Podcast Episode E036

Why Don’t Smart People Agree?

Key takeaway: Smart people don’t disagree for a variety of reasons, having to do with their background, their sources of information, and their motivation. In this episode, Randy and James discuss reasons why people disagree and a variety of things one can do to have better discussions.

Topics covered in this video:

Smart people acting in good faith can disagree about a topic for many reasons. They come from different circumstances, get input from diverse sources (which may be incomplete or biased), and have different outlooks on life. Some people have book smarts and others have street smarts
Can we assume parties to a discussion come to it with an open mind? A person can be acting in good faith and not have an open mind at all.
More people are unwilling to have a discussion or entertain alternative viewpoints
When you attack a person rather than their viewpoint, it says something about you and your ability to defend your own viewpoint
People have evolved to make quick decisions on incomplete information and are emotional when making decisions. Being intelligent does not protect as much as we’d like to think
How to disagree with (or question) an expert.
The many pitfalls of expertise as it relates to thinking and decision-making
People have different objectives, which allows them to disagree when they agree on the facts
Why recognizing and stating your objectives is helpful
When it’s OK to experiment with other approaches, and how
Explain your reasoning, show some humility

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