musing as I go....
Jun. 6th, 2011 09:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lagilmanEditing a short story this morning (wearing my freelancer hat), and I am reminded that there is a distinct difference between "not well-written" and "not how I would have written this story." The reader may have an opinion, the writer will certainly judge against their own inclinations, but the editor - even as a reader and a writer - must understand where you have no say on the story's choices, must think not subjectively about the work, but objectively.
It is not your work. You must accept the choices made by the author, even as you nudge them into ways to clarify or strengthen those choices.
This is an interesting balancing act, and one that creates an ongoing dialogue in my head between editor & writer, even as I'm working on the project....
[this is one of the things that makes editing - or deep beta-ing - so useful to the writer. When you can slip into an editorial mindset like that, it allows you to see your own weaknesses and work on them as well. And, likewise, when you see something positive, you can bring it into your own toolbox, suitably McGyvered for your own style and needs. Ideally, anyway. In theory. ;-)]
It is not your work. You must accept the choices made by the author, even as you nudge them into ways to clarify or strengthen those choices.
This is an interesting balancing act, and one that creates an ongoing dialogue in my head between editor & writer, even as I'm working on the project....
[this is one of the things that makes editing - or deep beta-ing - so useful to the writer. When you can slip into an editorial mindset like that, it allows you to see your own weaknesses and work on them as well. And, likewise, when you see something positive, you can bring it into your own toolbox, suitably McGyvered for your own style and needs. Ideally, anyway. In theory. ;-)]
