Aleesha Bass ELang 350 Brother Gardner 5 April 2013 To Be or Not to Be[come an Editor] Prompt #1 The topic of your

research paper will be your current career goal, Mrs. Tassigner said. I cringed. I didnt have a career goal at that point; most of the kids in ninth grade didnt. But I didnt want to pick a random career, and let all of my research go to waste. I wanted to pick a career that was going to be a good fit for me. I started thinking about my interests, which were mainly writing and reading. But I thought a career in writing wouldnt be very practical, and theres no such thing as a career as a reader. Or is there? Thats when I realized what I wanted my paper topic to focus on and what I wanted my career goal to bean editor. To this day, that is still my career goal. At first, I wanted to be an editor because I loved reading and writing. But now its also because I love the idea of helping authors improve their writing before its published. There are some aspects of editing that arent very enjoyable or easy for me to do, but overall, Im very excited about my career choice as an editor. Of course, I have learned since ninth grade that editing is more than reading and writing. Its about selecting, copyediting, and improving manuscripts. As Schuster says, Dont pass judgment on a manuscript as it is, but as it can be made to be (24). I think anything has the potential to be great. It is the job of an editor to realize the potential of a written work and improve upon what is already there.

After my realization in ninth grade about my career goal, I started editing and correcting manuscripts, mostly the school newspaper and my friends short stories. Being friends with writers has always given me good editing practice. At first I just did basic copy edits; I thought if I were to make any big changes, my friends would get offended and never ask me to edit their stories again. But the more I edited, the more I learned that editing is more than correcting things like grammar and punctuation; its taking what an author has crafted and smoothing out its edges, making something good into something great. Gross describes a metaphor that illustrates this idea when he says: It is the author who gives birth to the [work]; the editors role is that of midwife, whose job it is to bring a happy, healthy manuscript into the publishing world (xvi). So, I decided to be brave, and start doing things like content editing. I would point out when things didnt make sense, and, to my surprise, my friends were grateful instead of angry. Fear of offending an author is still something I wrestle with. I dont like to do substantive editing if I can help it. I think its the authors job during his or hers revision process to make sure that their ideas make sense. Sometimes an author needs an editor to do that, which is understandable. However, I think that the best chance for the editors to make the authors intent clear is if the author has completed their own extensive revision process first. I have a friend named Lindsay who is trying to make it as an author. She has written several books and has gone through the revision of each of her works several times. Currently, she is in the middle of publishing one of her books. Its taken a lot of time, she says. I dont think people realize that when they are finished writing a book, theyre not done with it yetnot even close (Eagar). In high school, I joined the newspaper staff, and after one year as a staff writer, I became one of the editors. This was my favorite job by far. People would write and submit articles, and I would edit and design them for print. I would mostly edit for grammar and punctuation, but

when the occasion called for it, I would add or omit content to the article so that it would be the appropriate length for the paper. After the edits were complete and everything was all prepared in InDesign, I would submit the page to the chief editor who would make comments and suggestions. After it was improved, it was sent to the printer. I liked this job the most because I was working as a liaison between the chief editor and the authors. There was even a little bit of creativity involved; I was the one who was making the newspaper (or, at least my page) look good. After another year, I became editor-in-chief of the paper. It was a lot of work, and I didnt enjoy this job as much as my previous one. I was still doing quite a bit of editing, but I wasnt working with the authors and their writing; instead, I was working to motivate them. I helped them find a way to approach the article, and I bugged them until it was written. I got to work more with the editors, but the editors didnt need to be supervised. After this experience I realized that I enjoy working with people, not working above them. Yes, somebody has to be the boss, but overseeing is not one of the things I enjoy in the editing process. I would rather be working with projects instead of managing them. Once I entered the editing minor at BYU, I was really intimidated. I started learning even more about editing and publishing. After reading parts of Einsohns book for ELang 350, I learned more about the particular jobs that were expected of a copyeditor. Since I dont like substantive editing very much, this statement came as a relief to me: Copyeditors are not rewriters, ghost writers, or substantive editors. Although copyeditors are expected to make simple revisions to smooth awkward passages, copyeditors do not have license to rewrite a text line by line (11). Editors are amazing, but its nice to know that I dont have to master everythingat least not all at once.

I think that being an editor is not only about having the skills, but its also about the passion for what ultimately is being doneimproving the manuscript. Not very many people say that they love editing. If I were an author, I would want an editor that cared about my work just as much as I do. I want to be that editor for someone. I want to help through the entire struggle to bring the baby into the world for other people to enjoy. I would love to be the unnamed editor that is thanked by the author in the Acknowledgements section. In conclusion, I want to be an editor, because I love the role that an editor plays in the publishing process. When I first started on my career path as an editor, its because I loved reading and writing, but now I know editing is so much more than replacing the thens with thans and adding a comma after a dependent clause. In my editing work now, Ive come to realize the importance of` Einsohns four commandments of copyediting. Thou shalt not lose or damage part of a manuscript. Thou shalt not introduce an error into a text that is correct . . . . Thou shalt not inadvertently change the authors meaning. Thou shalt not miss a critical deadline (4). I want to add one more to the list: Thou shalt do everything you can to aid and respect the author during the editing process. Respecting the authors wishes is an important step for the editor. The editing process is in place so editors can help authors refine their work. Authors need to be able to effectively communicate what they want to the world, and their editors are the ones that make clear communication possible. One day, I hope I will be lucky enough to be an editor to great authors, so I can say that I helped that possibly made a difference in the world.

Works Cited Eagar, Lindsay. Personal interview. 20 March 2013. Einsohn, Amy. The Copyeditor's Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications, With Exercises and Answer Keys. Berkeley: University of California, 2000. Print. Gross, Gerald. "Preface: Reflections on a Lifetime of Editing." Preface. Editors on Editing. New York: Harper & Row, 1985. Xiii-Xx. Print. Schuster, M. Lincoln. "An Open Letter to a Would-be Editor." Ed. Gerald Gross. Editors on Editing. New York: Harper & Row, 1985. 22-28. Print.