Crystal Shelley

1. What made you decide to go from a licensed clinical social worker to an editor?

I’ve always loved grammar, spelling, and general word-nerdy things, but my degrees are in psychology and social work. Moving into editing was not something I planned on doing, but because of some uncertainty in my professional life as a social worker, I started to consider it. I had originally decided to slowly transition into editing while still working at my job, but circumstances led me to make the jump sooner than I’d anticipated. 

2. What type of editing do you do, and what does it entail?

I provide several editing services: line editing, copyediting, proofreading, and authenticity (sensitivity) reading. Line editing refines the writing at a sentence level, focusing on flow, sentence length, and word choice. Copyediting hones the finer points of writing, such as grammar, spelling, punctuation, and consistency. Proofreading is a final check for typos and any remaining errors, and it usually comes after a manuscript has been typeset and laid out, so it also involves checking for formatting errors. Authenticity reading is a service that evaluates a specific identity or experience being portrayed.

3. What is the most common way people end up head-hopping?

The most common way is by accidentally showing a non-viewpoint character’s thoughts 

or feelings, or by showing an action that the viewpoint character shouldn’t be able to see, such as what’s going on in another room.

4. What genre(s) do you work on?

I work on fiction, particularly science fiction, fantasy, and romance.

5. Are you a writer yourself? 

I’m not a writer. I did try to write a novel, but it’s been sitting in my proverbial desk drawer for many years, and that venture has only made me even more impressed by writers who are even able to put a full first draft together.

6. What is your favourite part of being an editor?

I love getting to improve the writing in some way, whether that’s by refining the words themselves, fixing typos, catching inconsistencies, or any number of things I get to do. What it all comes down to is allowing the reader to enjoy the story rather than focus on issues with the writing.

7. What top three tips would you give an author when trying to avoid head-hopping?

1) Know who the viewpoint character of each scene should be before you write it, then make sure every other character’s thoughts, feelings, or actions can be observed or inferred by the viewpoint character.

2) Imagine that the viewpoint character is holding a handheld camera that can only see and hear what they see and hear.

3) Show what other characters are thinking or feeling through dialogue, action, or facial expressions. 

8. Do you think it is a must for an author to hire an editor or can they do self-editing, and give their novels to alpha and beta readers to get it to the best novel they can?

I would never say it’s a must for an author to hire an editor, though I would highly recommend it if possible, especially if an author can work with the type of editor who will help them with their weak spots. Otherwise, an author who’s strong in self-editing might be able to rely on early readers or critique partners to improve their story, writing craft, or grammar/spelling. 

9. Are there any other social media links, websites, or other places to learn about you that we should add? 

Threads

Instagram

LinkedIn

10. If you could give any advice to a writer/author, what would it be? 

There’s no right or wrong way to be a writer. There’s so much advice out there about 

doing this or not doing that, but nothing is one-size-fits-all. Take what works for you and leave the rest.