After finishing the reading for this week, I discovered that I have more in common with what
makes a great editor than I thought possible. Editors need to know how to write, but their whole
goal is to put the writing of others above what they think a final product should be. The paper I
edited this week was a story about a man who sees the presence of the devil in everyone he
interacts with. The question is, did the man sell his soul to the devil, or is he crazy? I would
never write a story along these lines, but I appreciated the author’s descriptions and creativity.
The story captured my attention and I wanted to read until the very end. I enjoyed being able to
help him make it better. My main suggestions came in the form of telling him to include commas
before his conjunctions. He writes so quickly that he forgets. If he slowed down a little more, his
sentences would make more sense from the beginning, leading to easier fixes in the future.
makes a great editor than I thought possible. Editors need to know how to write, but their whole
goal is to put the writing of others above what they think a final product should be. The paper I
edited this week was a story about a man who sees the presence of the devil in everyone he
interacts with. The question is, did the man sell his soul to the devil, or is he crazy? I would
never write a story along these lines, but I appreciated the author’s descriptions and creativity.
The story captured my attention and I wanted to read until the very end. I enjoyed being able to
help him make it better. My main suggestions came in the form of telling him to include commas
before his conjunctions. He writes so quickly that he forgets. If he slowed down a little more, his
sentences would make more sense from the beginning, leading to easier fixes in the future.
My last editing mistake comes from a sign in a grocery store. It says:
Frozen Pizza
Sometime’s
You Need To
Think Inside
The Box For
Dinner
For some reason, the people who made the sign decided to include an apostrophe in a word that
does not have one.
does not have one.
I like your suggestion about being a good editor. I think it is hard not to infuse our opinions when working with writers. That sounds like an interesting paper you edited. The example you posted made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteI really like your idea of editors putting others' writing above their own opinions. I feel like that suggestion isn't brought up enough.
ReplyDelete