WHAT GOOD EDITORS DO

                                                                                                                                                  Thought Catalog photo

What makes for a good professional editor? Granted, this is subjective, but here are a few thoughts:

1. Don’t make fun of obvious typos, especially in a public forum. Everyone makes them, including editors. Recently, someone sent out an email to a group, making fun of a typo as she attacked someone. Interestingly, her own professional website has a huge, glaring, and ridiculous typo. Pointing out typos makes you look petty and obnoxious. I feel so strongly about this that I made it No. 1.
2. Be patient, be helpful, and be kind. This may be hard, especially when you are dealing with a difficult client—believe me, I know and I’ve lost patience at times. But, as an editor, there are times you may need to put yourself in a writer’s shoes. See it from their perspective.
3. Push your writers to be their best, but not in an assertive, I-know-it-all manner (see No. 2). One of my clients once told me that her previous editor made her cry. She was happy that I was tough, but also gentle.
4. Be flexible. Language is always changing, and an editor must bend with those winds. Dictionaries and style manuals are constantly updated, so a good editor is always learning and growing. Holding on to those old style “rules” is an ineffective use of one’s energy, as is insisting on a certain style decision that makes little difference to the prose—even The Chicago Manual of Style, in the preface to its 16th edition, wrote: “Rules and regulations such as these, in the nature of the case, cannot be endowed with the fixity of rock-ribbed law. They are meant for the average case, and must be applied with a certain degree of elasticity.” It’s more important to make the writing clear, accurate, and accessible.
5. Remember the reader. While an editor may work for a publisher or individual author, the end process is producing something the reader will want to read and will understand. In many ways, we are an advocate for the reader.