Re: Editing issues

---

I find that lots of people write because they are asked to set down information but often they are aware that they don't know how to write.  Their words do not "reflect their view or personality," as Marge described it, but, rather, a series of jumbled thoughts. I think that there may be a lot of teacher in an editor. I like explaining why I'm making a change. However, if the original writing requires so much work that the author would be overwhelmed and discouraged by the "red pencil," I send a clean edited version for comments instead.

 

Sometimes, as Brook said, I am sure that the author hasn't noticed the changes even when they are significant; this time, it's the editor saying, "God, I'm good!" Often I do get a thank-you from an author who has recognized that I've made his ideas easier to understand and also more appealing to read.

 

I think that it is impossible for most people to see their writing with objective eyes. I would be so pleased to have an editor for the articles I write for my newsletters!

 

Fran

> Now, I'm not really talking about  grammatical or punctuation
> errors,
> but more about major changes in the way the words are put together
> -
> which, it appears to me, is, or should be, part of why you accept
> or
> ask a particular person to write about something, since how they
> use
> words does reflect their view and personality.  Let us assume the
> given that the "author" has the ability to write in good form and
> an
> interesting manner to begin with.
>
> I can understand the need to make copy for newspapers fit into a
> specific amount of space.  I am sure that magazines have similar
> issues.  But, beyond fitting into a given space, why do editors
> feel
> the need to change text to the extent that it appears they do?  And,
> beyond this, why, if they want to change something, don't they
> discuss this with the author?  It seems to be some sort of
> tradition
> - that editors can make arbitrary changes - if this is true, where
> did that start and why is it valid?
>
> Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
> mtalt@hort.net
> Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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>
> ----------
> > From: Carolyn Ulrich <cultivated@sbcglobal.net>
> >
> > But not if the ending links the story back to the introduction
> and
> ties > the whole thing together. Chopping off the ending leaves the
> reader
> > hanging and makes the writer feel really embarrassed. carolyn
> ulrich
> > On Monday, October 20, 2003, at 10:56 AM, FRIELSTER@aol.com
> wrote:
> >
> > > Chopping off the ending is what they SHOULD do. That's why
> newspaper
> > > writers
> > > are taught "inverted pyramid" style, to get the most important
> facts
> > > out
> > > first.
>
>
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Fran Gustman,  fgustman@juno.com
Boston, MA
Editor, HortResources Newsletter, www.hortresources.org
Upcoming Editor, Holly Society Journal, www.hollysocam.org