Why do you need an editor?

The temptation might be fierce to start shopping your newly completed manuscript to agents or to pull the trigger on independently publishing it yourself. But that would be a mistake. You need an editor and a panel of trusted advisors. A trusted advisor is someone who will give you a straightforward, honest critique. Your trusted advisor cannot be your mother or your best friend, who thinks everything you put on the page is perfect. Your trusted advisor will give honest feedback, even if it hurts.

Ideally, your editor will also be a trusted advisor - I always aim for gentle but insightful feedback. Would your superhero character do that awful, nasty thing? Probably not, unless you explain their thought process and give them lots of character development. Would your villain do that wonderful, heroic thing? Unless there’s some previous foreshadowing or planted plot seeds, that kind of payoff might come out of nowhere and confuse your audience, rather than thrill them. A trusted advisor will be able to tell you this.

Creating a relationship with anyone creates a sort of shorthand, and a working relationship with your editor is no different. When I work with an author on multiple projects, I find I understand their thought processes a lot better, and can anticipate how to best help. Sometimes, I can even help coach my writers to improve their next book’s early drafts by drawing attention to consistent issues in their writing.