Writing Skills: The Case For Working With An Editor.
Writing isn't as simple as it looks on
TV or in the Movies. The glamorous writer is depicted draped in wine,
women and adventure churning out his or her product with ease. While
this is all true for me, most other individuals
need help. Some people are shocked
to learn that writing involves a team. Educated, talented
individuals working together to bring you, the consumer, a polished
product that is ready to leap off the
page and insert itself into the enjoyment centers of your brain.
In my past,
I trained and worked as a visual artist so I was just as shocked as
anyone to have discovered
the fact that
writing is a team effort. As an “artist” I could do
whatever unspeakable things I wanted to
on paper or canvas and I didn't need anyone to tell me what it was, how
others would view it and “I should
probably take another crack at it because what you just produced is
utter donkey dung”. People have opinions to be sure, but if they
are negative, they will for the most part
wisely walk away without expressing them. Which
is a good thing because most artist's reactions, like wild
chimpanzees, are not to be trusted with
negative opinions or food. If provoked,
they very well might rip your face off.
The writing “team” goes something
like this: The writer, the copy/content
editor, the agent (optional), graphic artist,
the publisher, and the distributor/seller.
Some of these people or entities will
wear multiple “hats” during this process
and fill more than one of these
positions. Even so, the structure remains basically
the same.
Everything starts with the writer of
course, he or she is the creative
driving force that produces the initial work. Without
them, everybody else would be selling fast food or cleaning
toilets. It's safe to say that without the writer they
(editors especially) would lead a purposeless existence. However,
since creative types continue to exist
they have a reason to live and have not disappeared into extinction
because of natural selection.
That's not to say that writers are some kind of flawless golden eggs that should be admired, worshiped and paid without question. I myself, found out that it pays to have someone edit your work before it is “published.” Most beginners rely on a computer's spell check to find the flaws in their work. This only works on individual words and not the content. The genius on the pages need to be polished and the thoughts focused. This job takes a human participant and if you have the right editor, they can do just that. They can make the necessary technical changes without destroying the nuances and the feel of the individual style that can define an author.
Here is an example of proper editing
taken from a recent story I wrote. First, read the “rough draft”
before my editor was able to work with it.
“I haba serioz... WTF! :( Ass
ASS ASS!! Manz with to store, buy, itz gonna rainz today. Blech
hate things... I willa willa hurt C Ya
locaally grown.”
Although the passion and brilliance is
there, admittedly it needs some polish to make that little gem shine.
Can you pick out the subtle changes my editor made to improve it?
“I looked into the darkening
clouds the day of my beloved's death. Like a tear from the sky, a
single raindrop fell from the heavens to the earth as if creation
itself mourned along with me and I knew that for me, the colors of
the world would be forever duller as long as I stood upon it.”
It's a bit better and the flow is
improved. Perhaps it's a little too “vanilla” but to make
something the market would be interested in
buying, sacrifices have to be made, so that you too can be
rich and have eventful adventures that only successful
writers have. I hope this demonstration helps you in your literary
endeavors.
If you would like to hire the same
insightful, intelligent editor I use, you can check out her blog at:
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