Writers and Editors
Posted on May 4, 2007
Filed Under What's New |
I met an editorial director from one of the Irish publishing houses last week. We sat and had coffee in Dublin and as always when talking to people who can hold out the carrot of more work I was making polite conversation while watching for any sign that he might have a commission to offer.
“Writers,” he was saying, “are ten a penny. Now if you can edit… are you interested in editing?” Hmmm. I hadn’t seen them as radically different jobs. I know when I’ve edited in the past I’ve always looked at work from a writer’s point of view - how to improve, eliminate mistakes, add character. There’s additional organising to be done and there’s more to do with ideas, some sense of structure needed too but these are all things most writers bring to their work anyway.
So here I am still puzzling over the devaluation of writing and the elevation of editing. He might have said - run of the mill writers are ten a penny but those with unique insights, those who care about compact style, those who can be funny…. but no. Writers are ten a penny. It says something about the changes print businesses are going through because behind it is a judgement that I’ve also seen in TV: Get the product out. As long as there are no real howlers in there, get it out the door. In those conditions anyone can write.
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