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Subject:Re: what's an editor? From:/Jan test <boom -at- CADENCE -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 14 Feb 1995 08:41:12 -0800
Wait a minute - slow down.
I'm not sure what you're responding to - actually, it looks like you are
responding to both me and to whomever originated the "editors are not
writers ...," - but I think you have the wrong interpretation of my thesis.
I believe you are a writer. (I didn't say "working as a writer.") I
think that in order to be an editor, you must be a voracious reader, a
writer, a student of the written language. And I'll bet a bunch that
you are. Certainly you assist writers, because you know what good
writing is, and what works. You have a whole lot of expertise
that you bring to your job, and I submit that writing is part of it.
jb
===========================================
Jan Boomsliter writes:
>An editor who is not a writer? How can that be?
>
>If one is not a writer, how can one possibly assist the writer and the
>writing process? I submit that the function you are describing is not
>editing.
>
>> Many editors are not writers and not at all creative. I had one like that
>> some years ago when I was on the staff of a large outfit. She could
>> identify problems, but did not know how to fix them. So we made a deal:
>> She would mark up the copy with her queries and comments, and pass it
>> back to me for repairs.
>>
>> It worked out very well. Is that a model for anyone?
>
I should hope not -- especially for writers who have never worked with
an editor before.
Just because an editor has never worked as a writer doesn't mean
that the editor can't figure out a way to assist the writer in
reworking a sentence or paragraph, and doesn't mean the editor
isn't creative. I'm sorry your personal experience with editors
has been that way, but I've been an editor (not a writer) my entire
professional career and have had no trouble assisting writers
with the writing process, or recommending fixes for problems that
might occur with the copy.
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*
Janice Gelb | The only connection Sun has with this
janiceg -at- marvin -dot- eng -dot- sun -dot- com | message is the return address.
"Life is something to do when you can't get to sleep."
-- Fran Lebowitz, _Metropolitan Life_
