One of the most underappreciated jobs in the world of writing/publishing is the editor.
I say this from the point of view of a writer. I pretended to be an editor for a day for the Horror Day anthology, and probably got no more than a 0.001% peek into the real work that goes on.
I’ve been lucky to work with some fantastic editors who really get into the process of it all, as well as some who don’t seem to do much of anything. I’m not naming names, so no guessing who’s who.
Along with the cringingly-bad grammar and spelling mistakes that creep in, a good editor will also find ways to make your story better – to have more emotional impact, to deliver more than you had originally envisaged. A good editor can make a good story great.
There are some authors who need precious little editing. I can immediately think of a few in the local scene, but they have had many years of experience in publishing their work. They know what works in the realm of saleable fiction.
Many of us don’t have that experience. I’ve only been writing full-time for six months. Most of my work before then was written in the scraps of time between studying and life. I always had other things going on in my head – namely uni work and the PhD – which, I never felt, gave the writing enough brain-RAM to run on.
I’m lucky, being able to write full-time. In the respect of having no other job than running the household, that is. I wouldn’t choose the way this came about (illness that disabled me legally), but I also wouldn’t unchoose it for the world.
I went and read through all of my old shorts a few days ago. Realised just how undeveloped some of them are, and duly trunked them. Anything that had any merit at all got sent out to a new market.
Speaking of good editors, I’ve heard back from one market already. An editor who passed for now, but provided very, very good reasons for why, all of which I agreed with.
This brings me to another point that’s been coming up on LJ of late – people who argue with rejection letters. I will never understand this. An editor has taken the time to suggest what some of the shortcomings of your work might be, and you argue with them? All it does is earn you a blackballing. My suggestion? Have a yell or a cry if you need to, then tuck that rejection letter away for a week, a month, a year. Come back then with more experience under your belt and assess it. I bet you’ll see that they’re right.
So basically, I have a great admiration for editors. I really do. Without them, that magazine, anthology or book wouldn’t be in your hands, and I bet it wouldn’t be as good. We’re damn lucky to have some fine editors in this country who are working for nothing. Give them some kudos for it.
Mirrored from Stephanie Gunn.
