Adventures in Editing

When I mention to people that I'm an editor, their first instinct is to choke, and to fidget, and to finally confess, "I hope you're not judging me. I never did well in high school English."

As if I would condemn those who scraped through English 30! Math 31 gave me a good dose of humility--nearly kicked the daylights out of me. I have nightmares of having failed to complete high school math (thereby destroying my entire career and worth as a human being). I can empathize with those who fear words, for I fear numbers. Even now, when I attempt to visualize basic addition in my mind, the numbers, mischievous imps, conspire against me by jumping around. [As a small grade schooler, I was shocked that I'd even be asked to, say, add three to ten. Three is a surly number, and ten is such an optimist: what sort of masochist would pair these two at all? No, leave three with five (who is fairly even-tempered and can handle three's mood swings), and they will mate to produce a healthy, spirited number eight.]

When it comes to grammar, the truth is that I'm not judging people. Though when I've edited too much, I tend to punctuate their sentences in my mind as they speak. It's a rather irritating quirk, much like my tendency to occasionally dream in fluent German (which I do not speak, but learned enough of in University to recognize fluency!), or to have every action I make in my dreams narrated.

Another assumption people pass when they discover that I edit is that the work is drudgery. Can grammar be riveting? Why, yes, certainly. I think so. However, what is truly fascinating in my line of work is the opportunity to work with those creatures called "authors." Even more intriguing are those who aspire to be authors.

I've edited all sorts of books written by all sorts of people--from a crime novel written by an inmate at the Kingston Penitentiary to a children's book written by an author in Oman. I've worked with tech-savvy professionals, and clever academics, and with one older gentleman who click-click-clacked out his entire novel on a typewriter, undoubtedly with two fingers. A surprising number of people say that they feel God has led them to me--that I am destined to edit their work. (In one case, God plumb forgot that I was nine months pregnant and bursting at the seams.)

I have appreciated all (or most) of these experiences, and I've decided to feature a few of my favourite authors in the weeks to come. So, if you like books, and if you'd like to know what it's actually like to work with those who write them, pull up a chair and read along. I'll never judge you.