Well, many of the clients I’ve worked for write the way they talk. Sometimes that works great in a book and sometimes not.

They have wonderfully unique ideas and stories but these need to be put into a readable text, not just be a written version of a spoken text.

My job is to rewrite their work so it’s readable and flows, yet without losing the author’s voice.

That’s tricky.

How do I make sure I don’t add too much of me while rewriting? After all, it’s their name on the cover, not mine.

What I do first is read what they’ve written and get a feel for them and their own particular voice.

Each of us has one but it’s usually so automatic that we don’t recognize it. I’m pretty good at sensing someone’s voice and not trampling on it.

I also make it very clear that no matter how I rewrite something, if they don’t like it, it gets changed. Or deleted.

So if you have a story but haven’t told it yet, or feel that you’re not a writer so you won’t even write it down, consider writing it as you speak and then asking an editor or writer to put it into the right format.

But your name goes on the cover.

Recently I realized that that is why I love editing so much.  It’s just like puzzle books.

When a client sends me their copy to edit, I look at it as I do a puzzle.  Hmmmmmm………..what’s the main theme here, what is the format this should be in, what are they trying to say?

Sometimes it’s a how-to book that needs some firmer language, sometimes a spiritual-type book that is a bit ‘out there’ and needs some down-to-earth tweaking. And other times it’s a report that simply needs proper formatting.

And a curious thing has been happening this past year. As my intuition grows, I notice my facility at puzzles grows as well. I simply intuitively know where the words are hidden. The pen in my hand just goes to where the answer is. Amazing.

I now see I’m doing that with editing, too.  If a sentence does not ‘feel’ right to me, it usually isn’t. And making text flow so it all makes sense is a compulsion of mine.

But even with the editing work increasing, I won’t be giving up puzzles anytime soon. Too much fun.

“A writer gets very close to their writing and sometimes the mind can fool you.  You assume you’ve explained things fully or created the picture you wanted.  However, you may have just taken that for granted. You really need someone to check or oversee it to make sure that the reader can pick up and understand the picture that you created.

“Of course, as writer, this creation is your baby.  But once I have given that creation up to an editor, I can then actually say it’s finished. That’s the actual letting go, when I’ve sent it out to an editor.”

I asked Cathie how she knows whether or not an editor is working well with her.

“Well, you definitely have to have a rapport.  I need to know that the editor is mindful of my phrasing, my voice, open to listening to my thoughts and the meaning of my work. Mind you, the first look is for grammatical errors, punctuation and so forth. I’ve tried Spellcheck but couldn’t trust it fully. It would say I needed a comma here and there but that would have broken up the meaning of my sentence.  It wasn’t what I was trying to get across.

“That’s why I wouldn’t want to use editing software, because the meaning can be lost or incorrect. I would be wary to trust it totally.

“Editors pay close attention to detail and yet keep in mind the voice of the writer. Also, it’s important for the editor to have a good sense of conversational speaking in order for dialogue to sound real. I liked your ability, Heidi, to link paragraphs so they flow from one into another.

“In short, writers can make assumptions: did I get all these ideas on paper, did I explain this clearly?  I don’t know.  That’s why I need an editor.”

Check out Cathie’s site, CathieAndrew.com. She has a 7-Step Program: “Writing To Make Money,” as well as some wonderful e-books: “Wellspring-How To Write Your Memoirs” and “Traditional Cookbook.”

When I started school, for some odd reason I felt a kinship with prepositions.  One of my former French teachers hated prepositions (whether French or English) but I absolutely loved them. It was a thrill memorizing them.

OK, that’s weird.  But it continues to this day.  One of the misuses I hear a lot is “just between you and I…..”   Noooooo, please……..object of a preposition. “Just between you and me.”

I never correct people unless they ask (which is never) but I would like to. Politeness was also drilled into us kids.

And even though we all end sentences with a preposition, it’s still considered incorrect, no matter how awkward it sounds.

As my dear old pappy used to say: “Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put!”