A CAREFUL EDITOR

I'm careful about my editing, but a lot of editors aren't. Once, a heavy-handed magazine copy editor totally rewrote my story; so much so that I didn't recognize it when I leafed through the magazine.

The big problem, though, is lazy newspaper editors picking a short anecdote to cut out of a story; even if it's a great anecdote, they cut it out. Or they end-cut the story.

They're more worried about making the story fit. Quality? Not so much.

I remember one particular editor whacking one of my stories that way, and I was furious. If I'd known he was going to do that, I'd have asked him to let me trim it myself.

Years before, I wrote a newspaper article about a swimmer from Alsace, France, named Philip Roth. His first name was pronounced the French way (Fee-LEAP), and Roth is a German name (Alsace is on the German border). It was a big deal to me because he was swimming for a college team in North Carolina. He seemed out of place.

The editor cut out the fact that Roth looked like German tennis player Ivan Lendl and spoke with a German accent but had grown up in France. He cut out the reason for me writing the story in the first place!

I asked him to fix it, but he said he was too busy. So I went into the computer and rewrote it, putting the info back and trimming it to fit his chosen length. It could have gotten me fired, but I didn't care. I wanted the reason for the story in there.

I remember the first editor (the one who cut anecdotes) being impatient as I cut a story of his to fit. I didn't cut out sections. I trimmed it carefully to make it fit and to let his writing shine.

I wish I could have taught him to do that.

Remember: I try to edit in such a way that the writer (and the reader) can't tell I've been there.

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  TWITTER: EDITORatWORK

MORE EDITOR@WORK BLOG ENTRIES

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

BLOG ENTRIES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

ANECDOTES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer OUTTA there!

ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing