Awe, the Promise of Youth
- Sadie K. Frazier
- Jan 18, 2018
- 7 min read
So, today I had the honor of being interviewed by a senior in high school, who was interested in becoming a writer/editor for a living.
I thought I'd share with you her questions and my responses as well as my typo at the very end!
1. How long does it usually take you to edit?
That depends on the length of the book, the amount of pages, and the expertise of the author who is writing it. For some, there are a ton of grammatical errors and spelling issues that need to be corrected before I can even begin looking at the content and flow of the book. In other causes, with more experienced authors, there isn't much to fix as far as punctuation, grammar, spelling, and we can move quickly through the process. It is not unusual to have four or five rounds of editing going back and forth between the author and the editor. As far as my part, I like to take a few chapters at a time and perfect things, and then I have to wait on the author for their response for corrections before we move on. When I am proofreading, I do the proofreads all at one time before returning the completed work to the Publisher. Again, depending on the length of the book, it could take me a few hours to a couple of days.
2. Where do you get most of your inspiration from as an author?
There are so many things around us in our every day lives that are an inspiration. Sights, sounds, smells, memories, songs, are all what I derive my inspiration from. I can be watching a movie, or hear a song on the radio, and it might be a simple phrase, or even a single word that sets off an idea for a whole new novel. My childhood, my past experiences, and even people I have known in my lifetime have been inspirations for many of the novels I have written thus far.
3. How did you get interested in the field?
I have always been interested in writing. I wrote as a child and even won an award for a poem that I wrote in high school on creating change in the world that you want to see. It was only after my husband and an author friend of his encouraged us to enter a short story in an upcoming anthology, that I thought I would try it. It was accepted by our publisher, Solstice Publishing, and I was ecstatic. It was only then that I allowed myself to think about what it would be like to become a writer full time. I decided that it was never too late to start, and a year later, I am currently working on my 5th novel, and have much more planned for the future.
4. What advice would you give someone going into editing/writing?
I would tell them as far as the writing aspect, to never let anything hold you back. If you have the drive, the passion, and the patience, reach for those dreams and never give up. Even in my case, I didn't follow my dreams until a much later age, and I would tell them to start while they are young and keep going no matter what. You aren't going to be rich or famous overnight and it takes a lot of patience to keep going even in the months that there may not be many sales/interest from readers.
5. Do you work with people? As in do you have to do a lot of talking with the person you're editing for, or is it more independent?
When I am doing proofreading/editing everything is done through emails and I don't talk directly to the person. All work is done independently but requires several rounds of communication/corrections to complete the finished product. When I am writing, I do a lot of talking my way through things and running by my ideas with my husband who is also an author. He is a great inspiration and helps redirect some of my ideas, or helps perfect them into exactly what I want on paper before the final product.
6. Is it stressful when you have deadlines, or do you enjoy doing the work enough that it doesn't matter?
In writing and editing and proofreading, I enjoy the deadlines and I love it so much that it just helps to push me even further. It isn't like at my normal job when there is deadlines and I feel stressed. Sometimes, the noise around me can distract when I truly need to concentrate and finish a project, whether it be editing or writing my manuscript, but I put on headphones, crank up some music, and knock it out of the park.
7. Do you have a lot of flexibility in determining what you get to write as an author?
Absolutely, and that's the best part. My first short story was in the horror genre just to get my foot in the door. But I have since written a full-length epic fantasy novel, and then one in the magic realism and fantasy genre. The one I did that was just released was in the fantasy/sci fi/steampunk genre. My current work in progress is a dramatic, heartwarming love story about love and loss. I can write in any genre I want and there are no limits to have short, how long, or whatever subject I want. The ideas are only limited to my own imagination and that's the best feeling in the world!
8. Do you do your own editing when you're writing, or do you have another person proof it?
I do edit and proofread my own, usually working on around 2 drafts or so before I submit to the publisher to see if they are interested in accepting it. They then assign me an editor and then finally a proofreader further along in the process. I am seriously considering doing some independent/self publishing without the use of a publisher in the near future by the use of Create Space, and then I will be responsible for my own editing/proofreading to make sure that my novel is perfect before submitting/uploading it to Amazon.
9. Do you think your work gets repetitious, or is there a lot of range of the things you do?
In writing, I don't think that the work ever gets repetitious, especially because I dabble in multiple genres. That's what keeps it fresh and exciting. However, when doing editing and proofreading, it does sometimes get repetitious. You aren't always going to like or have an interest in the genres you are reading, but you don't have a choice when you are the editor. For instance, I just read a 370 page novel about the history of the Roman Empire and how Dracula and his family and a gang of thugs who supported him came to be. 370 long, grueling pages of history that wasn't all that interesting or intriguing. But I had to still do my job and complete the assignment even though I was bored to tears.
10. Have you always had an interest in editing?
I used to read friends' papers and things like that and edit them for mistakes and in many of my previous jobs, my bosses have also asked me at edit business letters before submission, so I was used to it. It was only within the last six months that I realized that I could be making money while I was doing it, and felt comfortable enough with my own skills as a proofreader/editor to do so.
11. Is there a flexibility in work hours? (Ex., do you have more deadlines as an editor? Or do you get to take your time with writing?)
Definitely! When I am editing/Proofreading, I do have a deadline to meet, but it doesn't matter when I do it. I do all of my proofreading/editing in the evenings after work and I set goals to do this Monday-Thursday only. My husband and I set aside time on the weekends to do our writing, while sometimes throwing in an extra night during the week. We often start after dinner on Friday and Saturday nights and writing until 2 or 3 in the morning. It is not unusual to set aside 18 hours or so a weekend for writing.
12. Is the workflow fairly consistent, or do you have a lot of times where you have nothing to edit?
Because I am editing for our publisher, my workflow is consistent. The first 60 days that I edited, I proofread 22 books in about 50 days! Now, our publisher has limited us to only being able to do 5 per month, so it is always consistent. If you were doing this on the side or as your own profession, like I would also like to do at some point, I would think that there would be times when there would be a lapse in editing job. But this is where good marketing and promoting skills for your home business comes into play so that you can make sure there are no lapses and that you keep as busy as you want. As your editing expertise grows, so will your business. Word of mouth is what will keep you going!
13. Is editing a full-time job for you, and if not would you consider it?
It is not currently, but I would love to have my own home business one day, where I write full time as an author, and do proofreading and editing jobs on the side, combining it all into the things that I love to do for a living on a full time basis.
Thank you for your time! I wish you all the best of luck in considering this as a full time career some day. It is not always profitable, and there can be some days when you have writers block and can't think of a single word to right. But just like everything else in life, it is important that you keep going, keep trying, keep writing, and it will flow. Never give up on your dreams, and always do what you love!
Sincerely,
Sadie K. Frazier
Now, drum roll please for my typo:
Megan,
In looking back at this, I see that I made a typo in the very last sentence that I answered you.
I spelled write as "right"! I thought you might find it funny that I caught my own faux pa and that even as experienced as I am at editing/writing we are only humans and make typos frequently! Hope you get a laugh out of my imperfections! :-) Hey, just remember, perfectionism isn't everything and getting there in the journey of striving for perfection is half the fun!

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