Writerland is a newsletter from The Delacorte Review whose mission is to help writers tell the stories they need to tell. * * *Thanks for reading Writerland! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Writers love to complain about editors. Editors are mean. Editors second-guess. Editors undermine and leave writers with
I'm not an editor by trade, but I've found myself in an editorial position at work. I've learned that when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
I also think it takes a lot of confidence to refrain from intervening, not just in editing but in any collaborative endeavor. I see this in the agency world a lot. Everyone has to leave their mark on a piece of work. Often, it has nothing to do with what the work needs and more to do with what the person leaving the feedback wants to convey.
Chapter 73: An Edit Too Far
I'm not an editor by trade, but I've found myself in an editorial position at work. I've learned that when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
I also think it takes a lot of confidence to refrain from intervening, not just in editing but in any collaborative endeavor. I see this in the agency world a lot. Everyone has to leave their mark on a piece of work. Often, it has nothing to do with what the work needs and more to do with what the person leaving the feedback wants to convey.
Thanks for writing, Michael.