Writing Quote: On a Good Editor by Noah Lukeman

On a Good Editor 

by 

Noah Lukeman

When an editor reads, he is not just reading but breaking sentences into fragments, worrying if the first half should be replaced with the second, if the middle fragment should be switched with the first. The better editors worry if entire sentences should be switched within paragraphs; great editors keep entire paragraphs—even pages—in their head and worry if these might be switched. Truly great editors can keep an entire book in their head and easily ponder the switching of any word to any place. They’ll remember an echo across three hundred pages. If they’re professional, they’ll be able to keep ten such manuscripts in their head at once. And if you’re the writer, and you call them a year later and ask about a detail, even though they’ve read five thousand manuscripts since then, they’ll remember yours without a pause.
 

Noah Lukeman, The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile

 

Free eBooks 

• How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent by Noah Lukeman
•  The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life by Noah Lukeman
  

 

About the Author

Noah Lukeman is an American literary agent, actor, script-writer and author of works about writing and literature. A number of his books are widely used in creative writing programmes. Lukeman also contributes to a number of newspapers and journals, including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.