Thoughts on editing

The work that an editor is called on to do can vary greatly. At one extreme a job might just involve proofreading and a bit of stylistic tweaking: correcting grammar, punctuation and inconsistent spellings of the same word, eliminating repetition and, perhaps, removing archaic phrases that non-native English speakers think sound appropriate. At the other extreme it can involve restructuring a text to make the arguments more cogent and direct, bringing out key points and often deleted extraneous and distracting details.

Usually jobs fall somewhere in between these two extremes. But it’s a good idea to ask the author of a piece what they expect. Sometimes you will know if they say they want it shortening or sharpening. This is fine if you are working directly with the author in a direct customer relationship. But the relationship is less direct (e.g. editing for a magazine, with the authors as third parties) it’s harder to know which way o jump.

A magazine needs clear articles in common house style and format, that are accessible to the lay readership. Many consultants, scientists and lobbyists are so involved in the discourses of their work that they often don’t communicate very clearly with a broader population. (And we’re not just talking about non-native English speakers here!) Their texts can be replete with acronyms and buzz words that are widely used in their community.

This week I have four such articles on my desk. Fortunately they are short, though still twice as long as we want. They concern the build up to Rio, a controversial FAO report and EU legislation over natural medicines. It’s my job to ‘dumb them down’ a bit, so they are more accessible to general readers, without of course missing important details or misrepresenting the tone of the piece. Usually I get it right (more or less) especially with topics and organisations I am familiar with – but sometimes I get it horribly wrong –or the author is just ‘too precious’ about his/her own writing. When that happens I know I have lost an actual or potential customer (though sometimes I am forgiven and given other commissions). Let’s see what the success rate is this week. 75% would be acceptable…