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Why You Need an Editor Even if You Hired the Best Writer
Nearly 20 years ago, a few of us joined India’s leading business newspaper as trainees. From top colleges, joining journalism in the heady days of perestroika and glasnost, we could hardly wait to break front-page stories about the rapidly changing world around us. Instead, we were made the rear guards of the editing desks. Being fresh hires, we were confined to literally crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s while the reporters rushed in and out, meeting important people and writing important stories that brought exciting news to millions. We were too raw to be even given the more challenging editing jobs. No surprise, we felt little respect for our “editor” role. Our constant sighing and complaining finally prompted our chief editor to gather us around at about mid-night, amidst the dummies being prepared for the next day’s edition and the sound of the printing machines thundering in the background and tell us a blood-chilling story. Some time back, he said, on a night just like this, the front page of the newspaper was prepared in what we called the “make-up room” by a young trainee. After the trainee had approved the front page, as was the custom, the senior sub-editor and the chief editor went through the headings, the sub-headings and blurbs to check spellings, grammar and the general look. Approved by all, it went to print. The next day, telephones started ringing rather early at the chief editor’s home, who was fast asleep after putting the paper to bed rather late in the night. An editing mistake had been made. On the front page’s top story, the letter “l” had been inadvertently dropped from the word “public” on its rather large, 50-point headline! The importance of editing, even at its most nascent stage of proof-reading, had been brought home to us in a spine-chilling story that I doubt any of us will ever forget. Needless to say we all suddenly developed a new-found respect for our jobs, went through our copies with hawk eyes and whenever it deigned to appear, we checked the word “public” many times over before releasing a page for printing. We realized that a good job of editing was something all took for granted until something went wrong. And then it usually goes very wrong. Oversight, which the above example was all about, is the most common and base reason for which even the best of writers needs an editor. Engrossed in typing out the most fascinating story ever told to mankind or penning down memoirs of our fascinating journey through corporate life or even capturing the escapades of our real life heroes, the writer in us, crudely put, brings our most conceited, self-complimentary and narrow perspective to the core. A number of us are unable to find any fault whatsoever with our labor of love. The reality may be just the opposite. While we may truly have an interesting or important message to give, we may be too close to the subject to understand whether it is clear enough for the reader to benefit. For even the best of writers, the emotional involvement can easily mean that he/she loses perspective. That’s where an editor steps in. Even the most experienced, skilled or gifted writer needs an editor. If not for the right perspective, structure or grammatical correctness of his work, a writer needs an editor as a sounding board. While your mother thinks you are the best writer even before you have put pen to paper or your jealous neighbor has decided to condemn any work that you may ever produce, a good editor has just the right kind of involvement to give an objective and fair feedback during and after the process of writing. His stakes are just as high as yours. He is your partner in the journey of your writing from the time it’s a figment of your imagination to the time it reaches the correct audience, correctly. An editor should not be confused with a mere proof-reader. A proficient editor understands your audience, understands their expectations and at the same time understands your strengths and weaknesses. He can bridge the gap between the expectation and the delivery. With minimal changes, a good editor can improve the form, the structure and the style to connect better with the reader, without taking away the message or making the writing appear alien to the writer. To get the record straight though, a proofreader is important too, for silly mistakes can take the reader away from the profound point being made in your writing. Of course, it will put off any publisher enough to throw the manuscript into the dustbin much before he reaches what you think is the most brilliant portion of the story. Even the best of writers develop a style over time. Unfortunately that style may not appeal to readers of every work produced. The audience may be different and therefore demand varied styles. An editor can correct that. Many a time, the writer actually forgets that he is writing not for himself but for an audience. Again, an editor can correct that. No doubt, the maximum advantage in the relationship in garnered when the two do not act like adversaries in a tug-of-war but are open-minded about the other’s inputs and aware of their roles and boundaries in the processes of writing and editing. To encapsulate, here is what Dan Brown, the writer of one of the most acclaimed books of recent times, “The Da Vinci Code”, has to say as the opening words of his book (acknowledgments): “First and foremost, to my friend and editor, Jason Kaufman, for working so hard on this project and for truly understanding what this book is all about.” To add, authors of the cult management book “In search of excellence” have these opening words: “Two people made this book eminently more readable than it otherwise might have been – John Cox and Jennifer Futernick. John took our early, much too long, far too redundant draft and helped us blast our way through the quite substantial barrier between unwieldy early scribblings and something that resembled a book…” I rest my case.
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 January, 2012. 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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