On editing

I am a pretty vicious editor, even when I was a graduate student instructor, my students complained I was a hard grader, because the fact is their papers had to have structure, argument, support, and style before I would consider it an A paper. It wasn't a matter of just having a few good points.

Then I met a really vicious editor, and boy did I love working with her. I got just as good as she was at rewriting whole paragraphs authors would send in. And guess what? Most authors really liked the improved papers. Thanked me for my efforts in revising the paper. Thanked me for the opportunity to clarify and strengthen the argument.

That to me is the point of an author/editor relationship, intellectual engagement with one another over the same topic, with a goal of making it as good as possible. Editors have a real responsibility, that the final product that is published--and which will be, afterall, accessed under the editor's name for all eternity--at least meets, if not exceeds, the editor's own scholarly standards.

Icelanders are far too worried about offending someone, I guess, to actually implement this type of editing. Which is, in point of fact, the same problem that allowed a few undisciplined guys to run amok all over the banking system. I for one say what Iceland needs is a good editor.

Comments

Harpa Jónsdóttir said…
Já ð meðal annars. En þetta með að móðga einhvern : þú veist aldrei hver er skyldur hverjum, svo fólk er orðið vant því að stíga (of) varlega til jarðar.
July 28, 2009 at 11:57 AM
asgeirhing said…
The other problem is that we're always doing things at the last minute, most things here are supposed to be published yesterday, so the editing tends to end up being pretty basic - editors avoid doing the kind of edit that would call for a long discussion on weather it was changed the right way ...
July 28, 2009 at 1:42 PM
Unknown said…
Íslendingar eru almennt ekki góðir í að taka gagnrýni. Alla vega er það mín reynsla. Ég hef lesið fjölmargar íslenskar bækur eftir þekkta höfunda sem hefðu mátt við meiri ritstjórn - en mér skilst að ritstjórn bóka hér sé mun minni en víða erlendis.

Reyndar hef ég góða reynslu af prófarkalesurum á þeim blöðum sem ég hef unnið hjá, sérstaklega hjá 365. Sumir þeirra hefðu átt skilið að hækka upp í stöðu "copy editors" (veit ekki hvort það er til íslenskt heitir yfir það...
August 5, 2009 at 2:32 PM
Unknown said…
íslenskt heiti.. meina ég auðvitað.
August 5, 2009 at 2:33 PM
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