Saturday, January 17, 2009

Ten things about editing

1. Always have a plan B. (Backup your files.)

2. Don’t hold your breath waiting for thanks. (It’s an ungrateful world out there; one in which most editors are invisible.)

3. If you are not absolutely the last person to touch a “product” before it goes out the door, you can count on someone else screwing it up. (That’s why there’s version control.)

4. Learn to live with clutter. (Keep hard and soft copies until works are published. Questions arise and revisions take place.)

5. Many people are overly sensitive and easily offended. (Reread every author query that you write. Then wait. Then read it again before sending it.)

6. Never let your guard down. (If you read ten pages of clean text, page 11 will contain errors.)

7. Save, save, save. (Computers crash. Enough said.)

8. The devil is in the details. (Read very single character on every page.)

9. Use every tool at your disposal. (Always run spell and grammar checks.)

10. Whether or not you succeed in a job doesn’t necessarily relate to your performance. (The best editor in the world will fail if he’s not a team player.)