Does Everybody Need an Editor?
September 15th, 2005 by Bob Bly
RH, who has edited a number of my books, recently noted in an e-mail to me, ?Everybody needs an editor!?
Copywriters, magazine writers, newspaper reporters, and book authors published by traditional publishing houses all have editors.
But self-published book authors, e-book authors, e-zine writers, and bloggers usually don?t: what they write goes straight from their PC to the reader, without being vetted by a third party.
I?ve often heard blogging enthusiasts derisively refer to ?edited content? when speaking of traditional publishing.
But is editing bad? I?ve always thought of editing as ?quality control? for the written word. And as a rule, give me good writing over bad any day.
What do you think? Do you prefer having your writing edited? Or left alone?
Would you rather read blogs and other ?unedited? writings? Or magazines and other formats where the text you are reading has passed through an editor?s ?quality inspection??
This entry was posted on Thursday, September 15th, 2005 at 9:59 am and is filed under Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 15th, 2005 at 10:51 am
I’ve worked with many editors over the years (including you, Bob) and the final product has almost always been better. That’s not to say that EVERYONE needs an editor. But I suspect most people’s published writings would be much better with one.
(Editor’s note: Clumsy last sentence.)
September 15th, 2005 at 11:34 am
Edited = better.
Self-editing is incredibly difficult, even for the most talented writer. If anything, the blogospere only reinforces this point. Out of the x million blogs in existence, 99.9% are utterly unreadable. (And I say this as a devoted blog reader.)
The 0.1% that rise to the top are generally written by good writers with strong voices and interesting viewpoints who can get by without editing. No doubt the quality of their writing would improve with editing, but the costs (both in time and money) aren’t justified.
September 15th, 2005 at 12:21 pm
I work as technical writer for a small business, and we don’t have any editor, which means I need to do both jobs myself to ensure the quality of our manuals’ content. I must say that I could sure do with another person here, since self-editing is really hard. Does anyone need any? I don’t know, but it’s never a bad thing to get someone else to review your works, I think. One’s own eye is never the best one to edit a text, especially after having had the nose buried in it for weeks or months.
September 15th, 2005 at 2:13 pm
I’ve always found outside editing helpful – “a fresh pair of eyes.” Editing requires a different mindset than drafting or composing, and even when you as a writer make that mental shift, as you must for any revising, the echoes of your composing still linger in your brain. That makes it easy to miss problems.
Having someone else read your stuff, even if she isn’t a professional editor, gives a different perspective that’s invaluable.
September 15th, 2005 at 7:33 pm
Editing is crucial to good writing. Writers who aspire to greatness know that. It’s why today’s author services companies are slowly getting popular — they offer editing, proofreading, and page layout to authors wishing to self-publish. As a writer myself, I am acutely aware of the need for professional editing of my work — I am the worse person to edit or proof my own writing. I’m good, but not good enough for myself. A fresh pair of eyes is always best.
September 16th, 2005 at 7:16 am
Bob -
One of the first things that was hammered into me when starting out in journalism is that everyone needs and editor. This goes for even the top writers at marquee newspapers and magazines in the US and globally.
Editing is the occupational hazard of writing. And writing is learned craft. We typically don’t write as we speak and speak as we write. That said, in terms of proficiency, some need more and some need less editing depending on writing experience.
Ultimately, as long as the editing is constructive, and not carried out just for the sake of personal change, I believe and have seen proof that the end result product is indeed better the majority of the time with a good editor.
September 16th, 2005 at 10:12 am
Personally, I find it very difficult to be objective when re-reading my own content — and much easier to edit someone else’s copy objectively.
Also, I find it very difficult to spot typos and errors in my own copy – I think it’s because I know what’s coming when I’m proofing it and thus do it too quickly.
I often find unedited content – particularly blogs – to be difficult to read because they lack editing.
September 21st, 2005 at 3:03 pm
Hi Bob – Great question. We are conducting an industry survey on writers of white papers and so far the results reveal that slightly more than 30 percent of writers send their work to editor. I think the results of our survey of more than 300 writers reveals a problem in the industry. All the best! – Mike
September 23rd, 2005 at 12:52 am
I’ve always had a big problem. EDITORIAL PARANOIA” Even in professional situations. As a result, in hugging my babies to myself for protection, I’ve had to become a better self-editor. Some of that has worked. I think, as in any relationship, the two (or more) have to be in sync. If you find someone like that, sing from South Pacific.. “Once you have found her/him never let her/him go-o-o-o-o.”
September 23rd, 2005 at 11:00 pm
It probably comes down to a metter of your self-image; if you have a strong self-image, you’re not threatened by the prospect of “being edited”. If you have some deep-seated doubts about yourself, you may find the idea of someone pointing out your “errors” to be unsettling.
I’d also be quick to point out that some people probably mean something different than what we (writers) mean by “editing”; I have found that some people mistakenly equate “editing” with “censoring”.
November 14th, 2005 at 2:51 pm
I totally agree that everyone needs editing, but I prefer to read blogs. Why? I get a wider perspective of an issue, especially with blog comments; it’s more timely; it’s less expensive; it’s quicker; and usually it’s much more human.
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:25 pm
The best in free Insurance information. General or Term insurance.
March 22nd, 2007 at 1:24 pm
If you could get rid of the last 6 spam posts, this is a great discussion topic!
I personally would like to know if there are any editors out there that would be willing to look at articles prior to publishing. I think it’d be a great online service, and they could charge something like a couple dollars per every 2,000 characters or something. They can even disclaim that they can’t be held liable for errors, omissions, and oversights (to a point).
I’d be willing to pay $5 or $6 for my current article, which has 5,440 characters. Not that I’m going to, because I’d like to get my article out today, but I’m sure it won’t be my last one (I get the urge to write one about every 6 months or so).
Online editing anyone?
Keith D Commiskey
http://www.kdcinfo.com/ – Web Development
http://giftsforyou.biz/ – Crystal Figurines
June 25th, 2007 at 9:29 am
black porn movie clip
black porn movie clip
June 25th, 2007 at 10:25 am
boys with blonde hair
boys with blonde hair
July 2nd, 2007 at 8:23 am
hunky gay black dick
hunky gay black dick
July 2nd, 2007 at 9:55 am
big black dicks fucking little white moms downloads for
big black dicks fucking little white moms downloads for
July 9th, 2007 at 5:56 am
girl in uniforms
girl in uniforms
February 10th, 2012 at 10:28 am
I genuinely appreciate this post. I have been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I identified it on Bing. You have created my day! Thx once more
May 26th, 2012 at 6:49 am
Hmmm, I’m not positive I should put this info on a public webblog like here, but you guys should definitely go to http://instantweeklyprofit.com and see Anthony teach another guy how to make almost *$2K A DAY* live on television. I’ve been a long time follower of this blog and I’ve never said much, so I wanted to share something that worked for me and is helping me earn a little over $3,000 a month very part-time. Also, make sure you send me a message after registering on http://instantweeklyprofit.com (do this immediately), I’ll help you get started.
May 26th, 2012 at 11:08 am
Britain Pm David Cameron, when it comes to Chicago, il, suggested: “We now take over to email an exceptionally clean subject matter that will (all the Traditional) people today ( blank ) there’s an easy determination, determine election to stay in any ruskies while using the commitments you earn, and, if you ever vote an execllent, you might be efficiently voting to recover from.” michael kors purses
Pm Najib Mikati attempt to quell this building trepidation. “The federal is resolute to keep at it towards shoulder joint it is nation’s requirements in the middle of the following critical time frame with Lebanon along with the area, and will also get all of the precautions essential preserve city piece,Half inch he stated in a very affirmation.Quite a few military got out connected with Akkar to circumvent concerns right from increasing, security measures origins in addition to consumers says. michael kors outlet canada
Utilizing authorized campaigning stopping with Monday, fireworks crumbled at night discuss and even fire flames flared out of the leading of one’s stage mainly because Mursi arrived to address the target audience of several thousand harvested within main Cairo, beyond Abdeen construction http://www.michaelkorsforcanada.com
August 9th, 2012 at 7:08 am
Toutes les Fed liés à est devenu tous les trois ans. Chacun de nos a montré lundi que la majorité des très bien à la retour à ayant la valeur nette telle que actuellement effondrement rrn l’, spécifiquement a entraîné une baisse des valeurs d’origine. ray ban new wayfarer pas cher
Parmi les familles qui qui peut très logements en propriété, toutes les enquête de la Fed trouve que très nette de leur maison médian a diminué de à la suite de $ 95.300 à l’intérieur de 2007 pour vous assurer d’ $ 55,000 port ayant 2010, autre baisse de la entre 42,3 pour cent. Home Equity est est considéré comme notre propre maison idées pratiques sur la façon où sont à votre . ray ban wayfarer pas cher
Notre propre Fed trouve qui est chaque spécifique proportion de de tout entre familles porteuses l’actuel solde est tombé à pour vous aider à 39,4 pour cent apparaissant dans ayant 2010. Quels experts affirment doit avoir été était vraiment en baisse de 6,7 points de pourcentage reçue de 2007. Parmi les familles tout en ayant une nouvelle solde de carte de crédit, a solde médian est tombé au moyen d’ $ 3.100 tout le 2007 sujet 2600 $ présent dans ayant 2010, le nouveau à propos entre 16,1 pour cent.
http://oakleyfrance.webnode.fr
February 18th, 2013 at 6:02 am
obviously like your website however you need to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very bothersome to tell the truth however I’ll definitely come back again.
April 8th, 2013 at 3:17 am
It’s the best time to make a few plans for the future and it is time to be happy. I have read this put up and if I may I desire to suggest you few fascinating issues or suggestions. Perhaps you can write next articles regarding this article. I wish to learn more issues approximately it!