I had my first ever official editing job this past weekend, editing and commenting on three submissions for J.Mag. I hate to confess this because it makes me sound despotic and overbearing, but it was an absolute power trip. I was in a position to delete, rearrange, or insert anything I believed was necessary, and if I thought the pieces were hackneyed, dry, irrelevant, or terrible I absolutely could tell the writers in the harshest terms possible and they wouldn't be able to do anything but take it. The phrase "abuse of power" comes to mind. Ohhhh yeeeahh....
But of course, with great power comes great responsibility, blah blah blah. *sigh* I restrained myself and retained my civility with very constructive and helpful comments. The tricky thing about editing, I've discovered, is that you have to straddle the thin line between preserving the writer's style while adding useful insights that will inevitably be peppered with your own personality and experiences. It's especially tough with writers who are still struggling to define their voice, because it is so tempting push your own style on them. When I think about it, editing is a lot like being a shrink. You don't push your own solutions - you can only give insights and help them find their own voice.
Well, I'm listening to Rilo Kiley and relaxing after a really long day, and I'm way too distracted to offer a you a nice little conclusion. This entry will just have to end abruptly, without even a period
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