Eat My Edit! An Editors Nightmare

Editor: bidbabynet

Being an editor is an often arduous and time restrained profession, requiring specialized skills and a personality most do not inherently possess.

The chances that a person would want to be an editor would be slim, majority of the time editing chooses them. If you have edited one word in a manuscript then you in a sense are an editor. Secretaries who clarify a sentence in someone else’s dictation are for the moment an editor.

Editing is a highly specialized profession. Editors improve the quality of communication, pictures, words, production or management. If you are intrigued by language you have the characteristics of an editor. Most editors are obsessive compulsive about errors in a newspaper, cringe when illustrations don’t match the accompanied text. Most have a compulsion to create coherence and consistency. Don’t be surprised if even inaccurate use of statistics or an illogical argument offends them.

Editors simultaneously serve as publications best and the least informed readers. Content, language, and presentation must be accurate. They must be able to satisfy the most intelligent, yet clear enough for a novice to follow. They must continue to hold the readers attention throughout the entire presentation without flaw.

Editors must have several qualities about them. They must be proficient in composition, grammar, and spelling. They must have the ability to work independently, and make cooperative decisions. Most importantly they must have an “Elephantine Memory”.

The most common form of editing is stylistic editing. Stylistic Editing is clarifying and reorganizing a group of words so the sentence runs more smoothly. A stylist editor would eliminate jargon, and clarify the meaning of a manuscript.

Seasonal Editors usually have a lot of in-house experience. The steps to producing a publication are difficult if you have never been part of an editing staff. However unless you have had some in-house experience as an editor, freelancing would be more difficult. People who hire freelancers don’t like to take risks they simply want problems solved.

One of the many drawbacks of being an editor is that editing is not a time honored occupation. If you are an editor, you are painfully aware of deadlines. They usually work late nights, and on weekends. Since there is absolute accuracy expected with this occupation, deadlines are almost always the cause of stress. Unfortunately since they are normally on tight deadlines editors must also deal with abuse whether it’s deserved or not. They must learn to never ever reciprocate.

Over a century ago editing was virtually unheard of, and even today majority of people still do not know what an editor does. However despite the many drawbacks of being an editor, it can be a very rewarding profession.

Categories: Arts and Entertainment | Writers Resources | Copy Editing