“Reading other people’s raw copy is like looking at your grandmother naked.”
When veteran reporter Rafael Alvarez was temporarily assigned to the metro desk, this was his verdict after his first week’s experience, and from this observation several conclusions can be drawn.
First, from your editor, as from your butler, there are no secrets. If you have allowed yourself to be lazy, careless, turgid, or sloppy, there is no concealing it.
Second, everyone—everyone—is capable of shoddy work, especially in the first draft. That is why writers need editing, not just self-editing, but editing from an independent set of eyes.
Third, humility should be the outcome. The writer should understand the human propensity toward error, and the editor should not assume some snooty sense of superiority for having ferreted out errors, because the editor is equally prone to them.
—John E. McIntyre
Transcribed by me from page 9 of The Old Editor Says, © 2013, Apprentice House, Loyola University Maryland.
Tweet: That first draft can be hard to read. Get some help!
Tweet: Editors are like hairdressers; you can’t hide anything from us.
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