Qualities of a Good Editor

chillibreeze writer — Anitha Sridharan

“Editing should be, especially in the case of old writers, a counselling rather than a collaborating task. The tendency of the writer-editor to collaborate is natural, but he should say to himself, ‘How can I help this writer to say it better in his own style?’ and avoid ‘How can I show him how I would write it, if it were my piece?’ ”

— James Thurber

Thurber’s words perfectly elucidate the crux of an editor’s job. Writing and editing are complementary functions, where the ultimate goal is an engaging copy. Today, people have an attention-span of a goldfish and so it is imperative that any copy—fiction, non-fiction, a news report, a feature or a technical white paper—is clear, simple, brief, grammatically correct, and error free. To ensure this, you, an editor will have to inculcate certain qualities - qualities that should become second nature to you, helping you deliver excellence.

Mastery over language

While your writer may be expressing a brilliant idea, it has to be done the right way. An editor is the bridge between the writer and the reader, so know your language like the back of your hand and there are no shortcuts here.

Follow the grammatical rules and syntaxes to a T, while ensuring you don’t encroach upon the writer’s creative freedom. A challenging call to say the least!

Subject-matter knowledge

The general argument: A writer, who is usually in the thick of the action, receives first-hand information and is typically an authority of the topic. So, an editor’s role is restricted to maintaining the language hygiene.

Agree? Not!

It is vital that you, as an editor, take the initiative and thoroughly understand the subject you are working on. Your prudence and comprehension will come in handy to manage a badly written piece or when it needs to be cut to size.

This builds and helps maintain a healthy relationship between a writer and an editor. The writer can be assured that his/her copy will not be randomly rewritten or hacked mercilessly unless required.

Eye for detail

A language specialist, a subject-matter expert and now add in perfectionist. As more and more industries do away with proof readers, you have to double up as one.

From removing the unwanted hyphens to spotting the annoying widows, the editor is expected to flex their meticulous eye and bring out a flawless finished product.

Adding value

As an editor, make an effort to improve every copy you work on. Besides the usual grammatical and syntax-related additions, understand your copy well, do your research and give your suggestions to the writer about what would work best.

What’s more, such initiatives help build a collaborative and trusting relationship with the writer, which is a win-win situation for you and the team at large.

Time management

It’s a deadline-driven world and it’s sacrosanct as ever! Be it a part of any industry—publishing, technical, newspaper or media—you have to diligently stick to your time. Especially, when you may not be working with just one written piece but many, it calls for assiduous time keeping to deliver, and that too on time.

Armed with these qualities, as an editor you can achieve a career that spells excellence and gain the respect of your peers and superiors.

Or, you could just quote Harold Wallace Ross (American journalist and founder of The New Yorker magazine): “Editing is the same as quarrelling with writers, same thing exactly.”

Editor's note: Most articles submitted to Chillibreeze go through a selection process. Only 30 percent of submitted articles are accepted for publication on the Chillibreeze.com featured article list. All accepted articles are edited and proofread for glaring errors of punctuation and grammar. Sentence structure is changed in certain cases and sometimes, entire sections are rewritten. If you notice any errors that have slipped through the cracks, do let us know! (Email us at info at chillibreeze dot com).

Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in November, 2011. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.

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—About our writer:

Anitha Sridharan has worked with leading newspapers and IT companies as a copy editor for over eight years. This diverse experience in print media, content management and marketing communications gives her an edge while editing and recreating copies—from customer deliverables and internal documents to news stories. Currently, she works as a writer for a design firm. She writes brochures, manuals, brand books, scripts, apart from maintaining the language hygiene of every copy-related work.

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