Recently I received an inquiry from a potential client asking if I would do a free sample edit of a few pages of her manuscript. I asked her what her timeframe was for editing, her budget for the project, and some other questions to gauge her needs. She said she didn’t have a budget (umm, okay) and she didn’t have a firm deadline in mind but she knew it would need a heavy edit. So I asked her to send the manuscript.

I took a look and my heart sank. The manuscript was 70+ thousand words. The first 5 pages, while it didn’t have many technical mistakes, were written poorly: clichéd writing, stilted dialogue, and poor descriptions. I actually wondered if the author was in high school. Now, don’t get me wrong—I’ve edited lots and lots of books. Some of them needed a great deal of work, some not as much, but, as an editor, I can only work with the writing quality I’m given (unless I want to rewrite the entire thing, which I don’t!). I was struck by how much time the author spent on this manuscript when the end result should probably be rewritten or scrapped altogether.

She should have hired me as a writing coach much earlier in the game. A writing coach can give you immediate feedback, help nip any writing problems in the bud, and help you make your writing time as productive as possible. An editor can fix errors, point out inconsistencies, and smooth out your writing. But if you have any questions about how your manuscript is progressing, whether your writing is good enough, and if you’re achieving your objectives in your manuscript, bring in a writing coach earlier in the process. You’ll save yourself a lot of time, hassle, and potentially money.