Diana Gabaldon gives praise to her editors for their concerns
Diana Gabaldon says she has good editors for her Outlander books
A good editor is priceless. Fortunately, Diana Gabaldon says she has some good editors for her Outlander books.
The conversation came up when there was talk of editors and a fan mentioned “violent hands” on a person’s works when talking about Clanlands. There are horror stories of editors using a red pen and going to town on a novel. That’s not what happens in Diana Gabaldon’s books.
The Outlander author shares that her editors share their concerns. She will then listen to those concerns and see if something can be done—or if it is a concern at all.
There have been times when editors have spotted continuity errors (and sometimes when continuity errors have been missed like 1967 instead of 1968 or green eyes instead of blue eyes), which are always the easy fixes. Then there will be other times that editors question a sequence of events or something that a character is doing. Will it work for the readers?
They don't lay hands on my stuff. They read it, tell me what they think, and I'll figure out how best to take care of their concerns. (I have very good editors!) https://t.co/oorSNDv1oV
— Diana Gabaldon (@Writer_DG) August 7, 2020
Good editors don’t put their own opinions into the story
Gabaldon made it clear that her editors only share their concerns. They don’t try to rewrite the story in the way they would want. That is a bad editor. Authors want editors who will spot the errors or bring up something that an author may not have considered, especially when it comes to the ninth book in a series.
It’s hard to create a book that continues the story for those who have read the previous books but can also be read as the first book. This might be the first Outlander book someone sees and buys it without realizing there are books before it. The story needs to make sense for them while not being too boring with recaps for those who know everything that’s happening.
The important thing is that the editors just share their concerns. Gabaldon will always listen to them, but that doesn’t mean the editors make changes!
For now, Outlander Book 9 remains in the writing stages, although editors will have taken a look at some of the earlier chapters. We’ll get the book when we get it!
Next. All the Outlander books in chronological order. dark
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