An Editor With Conscience?

inksplotter | 11:00 Fri 11th Jul 2014 | Arts & Literature

73 Answers

Should I feel guilty about this?

I was hired to edit a book, I ran out of time and I've dropped five thousand words or so, but I haven't improved the plots or the characters.

Pmu Issue 29

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askyourgran

Best Answer

So the next time you pick up a book and you are left with a cliff hanger, you'll know who had hold of it first. Inksplotter you owe them......

22:15 Fri 11th Jul 2014

Go To Best Answer

kawakiri

No and yes.

kernowgirl99

Yes. Well, I would.

boxtops

DTC - I agree with you completely. Editing's not about interfering, it's often about offering a bit of restructuring. Similar to proof-reading - I've proofed stuff recently that isn't at all in my field of expertise, it's the grammar, structure and readability which was wanted. Not my place to change the context or the content.

inksplotter

Question Author

Surely you can't change context without interfering?

Surely this is beside the point if I was hired as an editor and told to remove bits?

boxtops

I wouldn't change a section without consulting with the author first - what I'd do is suggest that "this might be better in this section" or "do you think this part is really relevant here"?

Since we don't know what your brief is, how could we comment on that? - this is the first time you've mentioned that your brief told you to "remove bits". How do you classify how big a "bit" is? I'd say a quarter of the text is far more than a bit.

-- answer removed --

boxtops

It's kind of negative bragging though, asking for reassurance that not fulfilling the brief is going to be OK.... which, IMO, it's not.

ichkeria

All this speculation is a bit pointless really. Editors can be used for lots of reasons. The book's plot might be rubbish, or someone might see a quick way to take a turkey and turn it into a golden eagle.
But if the editor's remit is to make it publishable then he can basically do what he likes. And if the author doesn't like it he can try another publisher.
On the other hand, if you are proof reading for a friend you would not do that, But doesn't sound like that's the case here

inksplotter

Question Author

Well I've been given final feedback of 4.6/5, so I maybe I wasn't as bad as I thought?

inksplotter

Question Author

BTW, that was a brag!

boxtops

well - I guess we should say well done, after all.....

inksplotter

Question Author

Thanks, boxtops. Good luck with your editing.

boxtops