Hey, SE Readers. Joan with you today. Let’s talk about editing.

I recently read a book that had a good plot. The story was intriguing. The writing grammatically correct. I didn’t find any spelling or punctuation errors. Sound like the person had a good editor, right?

Not necessarily. Throughout the book, there were countless repeated words. Here are two examples.

“Yardley stood outside the bedroom doors. Double doors, white with copper trim. She pictured Isaac in the morning, opening both doors and what he must’ve seen. She took both knobs and pushed the doors open, the way a child might.”

Or this:

“Yardley knew she was lucky to be a federal prosecutor. The state prosecutors were overworked and had little time to help in any investigations or interviews. Federal prosecutors could pick and choose their cases and take all the time they needed. Whereas a state prosecutor