Within a few months, I almost gave up. No matter what I wrote, he ruined it. When a story didn't fit, he didn't trim out fat and make it fit; he just end-cut it. That's the sign of a lazy, uncaring editor. I don't know if he was lazy, but he certainly didn't give a damn.
I once wrote a story about a Frenchman swimming for a local university. The man looked like Ivan Lendl. His first name was French, and his last name was German, which was appropriate. He grew up in Alsace, France, on the German border. This editor cut out the part of the story explaining his name and his accent!
My protests fell on deaf ears -- he was too busy -- so I did something that could have gotten me fired; I went into the computer and re-edited the story, putting the information back and making it the length he wanted. Then I told the people in the back shop to swap out the stories. If he noticed, he didn't say.
A year later, I left that newspaper less of a writer than when I went there. It took two or three years to get it back, then move forward again.
I've seen writers who hated editors and editors who felt nothing but disdain for writers. I'd say that aforementioned editor and I had that relationship. When I worked at my next newspaper, all of the writers acted like my job was to answer the phone and tell them that their stories were in. Later, when I covered sporting events, they acted surprised that I could do their jobs as well or better than they did.
One writer, a friend of mine at another newspaper, once was talking loudly about how writers had it so badly and how editors had it so easy, how writers had to work hard and editors did nothing. A friend of mine and I laughed, and we both told him that editors work much harder than writers. We knew.
The sad thing is that my friend became a sports editor, and I'm sure he still felt the same about editors. I imagine his copy editors loved him; or not.
I've seen lots of editors who were terrific writers and a few writers who were really good editors. In fact, I have worked with one top-flight sports columnist who is 10 times better than most editors, at least with his own writing.
Some writers say they don't care what mistakes they make; it's the editor's job to fix it. And some editors cut a story to fit and put a headline on it. They don't care if the story's screwed up; if the writers don't care, why should they? In fact, some editors say they want certain writers to look bad! I was stunned when I first heard that, and it still bothers me.
And many writers think it's the editor's job to infect their stories with mistakes. It's happened to me, so don't get me started. But I can tell you that editors don't do it intentionally. Like writers, they sometimes screw up.
I've worked with editors who are bossy, who will tell you exactly how you should do the story and then yell if you deviate an inch from their orders. Some editors will suggest a certain story, then are delighted when you come back with a better angle. And I've worked with editors who offered no suggestions at all.
I worked with a great editor who often liked to rewrite my leads or endings to his taste. He loved his rewrites and asked what I thought. He ruined the rhythm of the story, but, hey, he was the boss. I didn't complain; the checks didn't bounce.
On an occasion or two, editors have saved me from making embarrassing mistakes. Some have praised my work, then told me how I could have done it a little better.
I've worked with pain-in-the-butt editors who kept asking questions, trying to make the story a tiny bit better. It was excruciating, aggravating at the time, but I had to thank them.
One of the best moments I've seen came when I introduced my wife to a friend. Holly knew that Mike is a writer, and I told Mike that Holly is a copy editor. His response? "Thank you," he said, shaking her hand. Mike, who was also a copy editor for several years, was thanking her for an often thankless job.
It's a shame that more writers don't thank their editors and that more editors don't appreciate their writers. They'd both be better for it.
Contact: I can be reached at tgilli52@gmail.com or nc3022@yahoo.com. Also, my Twitter handle is EDITORatWORK.
More EDITOR@WORK blog entries
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