Thoughts on the Text

This week's reading focused heavily on clear and concise writing. As an editor, it is my job to make sure the integrity of the story remains intact while also keeping the writing tight.

I've always been that kid in the class who loves grammar, which naturally gave me an interest in copy editing. Years of editing research papers and creative writing pieces for friends gave me a hint as to what was to come in Editing 711. Despite my love of grammar minutia, I was really excited to dive into content editing. Taking a grammatically correct sentence and trying to make it even better is something that I haven't had much practice with.

One section of the text that stuck out to me was the importance of keeping the writer's voice present throughout the editing process. As an editor, I'll have to make judgement calls all of the time about what details are important and how to say the same thing in ten words instead of twenty-five.

My initial thought about content editing was to do what needed to be done. If the sentence doesn't make sense, rewrite it. Too many cliches? Delete them. Paragraph too long? Rearrange and chop it. I've never really stopped to think about the necessity of making sure the piece is still written by the reporter, not me the editor.

The example in the book about the reporter to editor ratio in a newsroom helped me understand even better. There are many more reporters than editors and if each editor rewrites according to his or her style, not the reporter's style, the publication will lack in variety and ultimately interest. It will be a challenge for me to edit with another style in mind, but I'm anxious to learn how I strike the proper balance.