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Re: Editing issues

Title: Re: [GWL] Editing issues
I worked in newspapers for 20 years as a full-time reporter. Even did a stint or two as assistant city editor. But at my very first job, an editor gave me two bits of advice, which have served me well.

1. Never fall in love with your words.
2. Nothing is written in stone.

No 1 is sometimes the hardest one to follow.

jems
Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Garden writer, speaker, photographer
Director, Region III Garden Writers Association
Phone: 317.251.3261
Fax: 317.251.8545
E-mail: hoosiergardener@earthlink.net


I've been following this thread with some amusement, but Marge Talt's last post was the icing on the cake.

I won't bother going into a description of what an editor's job is---we don't have enough space. But I will comment on her first and last thoughts.
>since I basically write
for the web and write what I want without someone changing it for any
reason.<


Nothing personal, Marge. But this explains why there is so much bad writing on the web.


 

>- that editors can make arbitrary changes - if this is true, where
did that start and why is it valid?<


We call it the editorial golden rule, Marge. "The editor's got the gold, so the editor makes the rules."

Far too often writers have such an ego attachment to what they do that they have blinders on. Every word is not a pearl, people. And your use of words may not be as good as you think; or it is stylistically wrong for the publication; or your reseach is incomplete. That's when the editor does his/her magic.

Good editors, thank you very much, do _not_ make arbitrary changes! They have too much work to do to bother with that.

Unfortunately, there are as many bad editors out there as there are bad writers. So very often changes can appear arbitrary because, as many have mentioned here, they contribute nothing, and often change the meaning.

But the fact remains, most of the time if there are editorial changes made they improve the piece. So far we've heard an awful lot about how changes affected the story negatively. We haven't heard anybody say, "you know, that editor really made my piece better." Yet, I'd be willing to bet that virtually every magazine story sent in has been edited. It's just that such a good job was done the writer doesn't realize it him/herself.

Think not? Next time you read one of your own stories in print and tell yourself, "God, I'm good," sit down with a copy of your draft and compare it, word to word, line to line, with what appeared.

Personally, I don't notice either way, because I rarely read my own stuff. The only editing I'm interested in is assuring they spell my name right where it says "pay to the order of."


Brook


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