Pardon the infrequent posts. My day job is heating up as we prepare to launch a series of travel blogs (I’d post the links, but they’re not ready for prime time just yet). I hired two interns to help me generate content, and while I was initially worried that assigning them articles and supervising their work would keep me from my other work, it’s been great so far. It helps that I found two very bright people who can take an idea and run with it without asking constant questions (not that I would discourage question asking, but it can eat up my work time).
Editing their writing and those of my colleagues got me thinking about the editors I’ve worked with (both good and bad). One in particular really engages me in the revision process, showing me where the language could be beefed up and where it needs to be trimmed (love her for that!). You would think that good writers would make good editors, but that’s not necessarily the case. Usually when I’m writing the words flow out of me pretty easily, but editing younger writers’ work makes me think more deliberately about the writing process. I want to help them develop their voices without discouraging them or forcing them to imitate my writing style. As a side note, I once had a singing teach who never explained that I was to imitate her technique and not her voice. I ended up sounding like a 33 year old mezzo soprano from Alabama until a new teacher helped me develop my own voice.
When I edited my high school newspaper and later helped classmates edit essays in college, the temptation was to either let them get away with mediocrity or completely rewrite it (because both were easier than explaining the nuances of the English language). Then I had an editor do the latter to me, and I was furious. For a long time if you googled my name and my alma mater, you would find an article that had my byline but expressed an opinion that ran completely contrary to my own views (plus, it didn’t make much sense because she used some of my words and some of hers). So now I try to really think about how I give instructions. Why does this paragraph need a transition? Why doesn’t this word feel right in this context? What is this piece missing? Sounds like the next few months will be a learning experience on both sides.