The easiest thing to do is to judge others, but amongst the most difficult is to judge them responsibly. A person who works as an editor should surely be more conscious of this fact than anybody else. For an editor is empowered — to pass a judgment on another person’s piece of work; to wield her pen as decisively as a sword. Unfortunately, more often than not, if something doesn’t fit into our expected parameters, we are quick to reject and castigate it.
We have new recruits in the editorial department. One of them, a young man with some experience of having worked in a large daily, apparently intelligent, looked at the first script he got and within minutes trashed it. He did it with so much conviction, for a moment even i started doubting the script, though i had cleared it myself. When we sat down to discuss it, his biggest grievance was that the author wasn’t saying anything new. Only when he was made to understand that the author didn’t mean to write anything new since his aim was to provide a general overview on the subject, did he change his opinion. To his credit, he did understand the difference between his expectation and the author’s motive.
The question to be asked here is — is it necessary for an author to fit into your parameter? Or should your parameter itself be expanded to at least empathise, if not justify the author’s stance?
No wonders, best editors are the ones who themselves grow and evolve with each script they edit. The young man, I hope, like others who are a part of Wisdom Tree, is on course to be one of them.
2 comments:
As a photographer, editing may seem irrelevant but in fact, one edits photographs; it is usually part of the photographic process. I started editing my photos many years ago but still I am learning partly because the technology keeps on being developed but also because one's understanding of matters such as contrast and tone also change. Input from others is often worth listening to but one does not want to be compromised. For instance, the advent of digital photography has changed the way photographs are printed; film more or less meant using contrast for effect but digital allows for smoother, more detailed images. from AMANO SAMARPAN author/ photographer of 2 bird books by wisdomtree publications
Good to know that there are still some sensitive publishers who actually read the manuscript themselves!
A good editor can bring out best out of any manuscript. i believe that we all a story in us and we all need a good editor...may a sensitive publisher can do it.
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