WRITING | EDITING

Some Editors Have No Business Editing

I used to be one of those, then I stopped

A while back, I was “offered” the opportunity to edit for one of the publications on Medium. I can barely write, editing is altogether a different animal, and I had no experience. None whatsoever.

While I was contemplating how to turn it down politely, I received a nudge in the form of a “bribe.” It would be a good experience; I’d be able to help those who write worse than I (my words, not theirs), and I would get some additional exposure as an editor by writing how-to stories about improving your writing.

Greed is a real MoFo. I accepted. Soon, I realized that it was a mistake. But I wanted to learn, and if nothing else, it would help me write better, or so I thought.

Listen to that inner voice of yours when it tells you that you have no business doing something you’re not capable of doing. Eventually, the pub removed me discreetly as an editor for not editing anything.

Oh, what a relief that was. Just like the commercial used to say. Pop, pop, fizz, fizz — and I was history, as an editor.

I have tremendous respect for real editors, like P.G. Barnett and Linda Caroll, who would not put up with my B.S. stories or provide polite feedback saying, “I know nobody asked for my feedback, but…” and I don’t have to pay for their services. What a blessing.

Anyway, this rant is not about that.

The other day, I wrote a story. After following the excellent advice, I’d read on Medium — which you have to discern from all the regurgitated crap that passes for advice — and checking all the requirements for a good quality article on Medium and intentionally ignoring others, like you shouldn’t have a paying link in your article, I submitted my story to a reasonably fair-sized publication.

After they published my story, I received notification that someone had left a private note.

Typos? Wait, I read it out loud, ran it through Grammarly Pro, and re-read it. Well, we’re all humans, prone to making mistakes, and Grammarly, well, it’s Grammarly.

So, I thanked him for his help.

When he replied to my reply, I got worried. I had to check and re-type the typos he had corrected.

What set off the panic? You be the judge.

All good? I was not so sure anymore.

Here is what I found, and I should have saved the “corrected” version, but I wasn’t planning on ranting.

I had written.

That was my way of showing gratitude to her for letting me stay Sheltered in Place, in her apartment.

He had changed the phrase, Sheltered in Place; so that the “corrected” version read:

That was my way of showing gratitude to her for letting me stay sheltered in her place, in her apartment.

(I had used “Sheltered in Place” because it reflects the current phraseology of social distancing in the USA. It did not need correcting. A competent editor would have inquired why the two words were capitalized instead of assuming that it was incorrect and taking upon himself to make the change.

Good thing that Medium lets the author override unapproved “corrections” after a pub publishes them.

As I said, some people have no business being an editor.

I used to be one, but I wasn’t editing. I couldn’t; as I didn’t know how.

“Become a motivator of writing, not the butcher of it; similarly, become an editor, not the copy editor.” ― Ehsan Sehgal

(Thank you, Sharon Hurley Hall, for your valuable feedback.)

As always, thank you for reading and responding.

Here are a couple of related stories:

Rasheed Hooda is a published author, who has contributed to many of Medium’s top Publications; Start-up, The Ascent, P.S. I Love You, Rogues’ Gallery, and ILLUMINATION, to name a few. He is also a Top Writer on several topics. If you like his work you can buy him a cup of coffee.

Testimonial by other writers.