What do real editors do, anyhow?
September 15, 2011 11:23 AM   Subscribe

Help me be a better editor... for my wife.

My wife is unhappy at work and looking for a new job. Her skill set is specialized enough that suitable positions only crop up once in a while, so each application is high-stakes. She has put together a very solid resume which needs only occasional tweaking, but she writes a new cover letter for each application. Discretion about the job search means that my wife can't ask her colleagues for feedback about these letters. Thus it falls to me to be her sounding board.

I like writing and language. I did well in AP English class (a long time ago) and wrote for a couple of school lit magazines. Unfortunately my editing process is just a lot of iterative, experimental rewriting -- trimming and rearranging until the meaning, flow and cadence feel right to me. I scorned the formal grammar segments of my English classes, with the result that I now can't diagram sentences or describe their structures in abstract terms. I recognize strengths and weaknesses intuitively, as Justice Stewart recognized obscenity. I can see and correct many problems, but often can't say exactly what was wrong to begin with.

The net result is that the feedback I instinctively offer is framed something like, "I think I see what you mean, but what if you were to say [XYZ] instead?" I offer concrete alternatives, not abstract ideas. My wife feels overwhelmed by this sort of feedback, that I'm trying to take over the whole process and make it about myself and my subjective preferences. She may have a point, but I'm struggling to see an alternative approach.

How might I be misreading my wife's needs in this circumstance? How can I, with my limited linguistic knowledge, do a better job of whatever it is that good editors do?
posted by anonymous to Writing & Language (16 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Maybe by not doing (the editing job) at all. Fall back to proofreading.
Scan it for typos, and sentence fragments, and interruptions and awkward phrasing,
and leave the remedies to her.
posted by the Real Dan at 11:30 AM on September 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


I agree with the Real Dan. If the only way you're able to suggest rewriting a sentence is going to be stressful and unhelpful to her, you'd be better off just not making that kind of suggestion at all. You say "it falls to me to be her sounding board" as if you have to say something, but that's not a given: it's only the case as long as she's receptive to your suggestions.
posted by John Cohen at 11:36 AM on September 15, 2011


Thus it falls to me to be her sounding board.

First of all, is she really asking, or are you volunteering? Two very different things.

Second, the way you are editing sounds great for working on your own writing, but its helpfulness breaks down quickly when editing others' work. Don't suggest any changes that you can't show on a page with red pencil. Re-arranging some lines? You can note that. Word suggestions? There's room in the margins. But if you are ending up paraphrasing and rewriting and restructuring to an extent that does not lend itself to notation, then yeah I'd say you're going too far.
posted by hermitosis at 11:36 AM on September 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


I have exactly the same problem. I often get asked to proofread and edit for friends and coworkers, and sometimes it's difficult to explain exactly why I'm suggesting a specific change except "this feels awkward" or something. People often don't want to hear that specific change.

So what I've started doing it telling people that when I look over their work, I'll be marking two kinds of changes: things that are actual mistakes (in red, say) and things that I would personally change (for tone, flow, clarity, so on). Clear mistakes of grammar, spelling, punctuation or whatever would get red, so they know that those things need to be changed or what they currently have will actually be considered "wrong". And when I make suggestions in blue, they can either take them or leave them. But at least now they are aware that to a certain set of eyes that portion of the work seems off, somehow, and maybe they can take another pass at it even if they don't like what I've suggested.

On preview: yes, even the blue-pen suggestions need to be as brief as possible. Altering the fundamental structure of whatever you're looking over is something that needs to be addressed by a conversation (or in my case by a few sentences at the end of the email).
posted by penduluum at 11:39 AM on September 15, 2011 [4 favorites]


Though I'm a fan of pen and paper editing, I have discovered that using track changes in a Word document can be helpful. There's a division sort of like what penduluum describes--for more nebulous comments, you can highlight the phrasing in question, and your suggestions will appear in a side comment rather than overwhelming the text. You can incorporate grammatical changes directly into the body of the document.

I would ask your wife what specifically she wants you to edit for--I know that personally I'm not after someone to correct my grammar but would welcome suggestions about structure and self-selling. Some examples: Do the paragraphs follow logically from one another? Does the letter make me look like I'm active and competent at my job?

I don't think advanced knowledge of sentence diagramming is necessary here, and doubt it would really enhance your communications about your edits. Ultimately, you can make the suggestion and your wife can decide whether or not to take it.
posted by mlle valentine at 11:51 AM on September 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Ask her what she's specifically looking for. Some people say to make sure they're getting X meaning across, or for obvious proofreading errors, or organizational stuff.

Then focus on the thing she's asking for. I don't think she really wants general feedback, of the kind that you might want were the situation reversed. Or at least, it doesn't sound like she does. It's possible you find that sort of thing fun--giving feedback. In which case, it's possible you are making it a bit about you. Perhaps you're enjoying doing it a little more than she really wants you to.

In other words -- you're not actually supposed to be a 'real editor' here, I don't think. It sounds like she just wants you to tidy up, say good things, and make her feel okay about the letter.

If I'm misunderstanding -- then maybe she'd let you just sit down and write the letter for her.

But either way -- I think you have to ask her what she's hoping for.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 11:59 AM on September 15, 2011


It sounds like she wants you to proof it and you want to revise it. Just make sure it doesn't have any mistakes in it, and ask her if she wants more subjective input as well.
posted by headnsouth at 12:02 PM on September 15, 2011


I've edited and proofed a few college application essays, with positive results and feedback.

The key to doing this is putting myself in the writer's shoes: what are they trying to say? How do we work together to bring out and highlight their strengths? Let her know that you're on her team and that you're working together to convince her prospective employer that she's the one they want. You're not out to create a work of art or craft a beautiful sentence. Your goal is to communicate clearly and concisely. The people reading the letter want to know why she's a fit for their needs. It's nice if she's an elegant writer, but I doubt they'll really care.

Here are some more constructive ways for you can to describe awkward passages in her writing:
Passive voice
Run-on sentences that obscure meaning
Abrupt transitions
Overly long sentences when a shorter one will do
Unnecessary digressions that deviate from her overall point

Strunk and White's Elements of Style is a good resource for other ways to communicate with her about improving her application writing.

And of course, you should spellcheck and edit for grammar as necessary.
posted by millions of peaches at 12:08 PM on September 15, 2011


Here are some more constructive ways for you can to describe awkward passages in her writing:

Yikes. How embarrassing.
posted by millions of peaches at 12:12 PM on September 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


If she does want you to help her see what needs revising, as well as just proof-reading, I think the most important thing for you to do is to only offer suggestions for rewriting if you can explain WHY the rewrite you are suggesting would be an improvement.

For example, "These two sentences should be swapped around, because the second one makes a much more important point and you want the reader to see that as soon as possible". Or "That second half of this sentence is ambiguous, so you should probably rephrase it."

But if all you can say about a particular sentence is something like, "I would write it like X instead: it just feels better to me", then don't say anything about that one. That's probably just a matter of personal style, and she probably feels like those sorts of changes are arbitrary and maybe even insulting to her own writing ability.
posted by lollusc at 12:18 PM on September 15, 2011


My diss adviser merely wrote in margins..."what do you mean here?" His way of telling me I was not getting across what I was trying to say.
posted by Postroad at 12:19 PM on September 15, 2011


Oof. People always say they want to be edited, but they very rarely actually do. With a wife, it's even more touchy.
My advice is that you re-write the resume the way you think it should go, then show it to her. She can pick and choose which paragraphs she wants to change herself, and hopefully, you can avoid getting pummeled over the edits you suggest.
posted by Gilbert at 12:27 PM on September 15, 2011


Instead of re-writing a sentence for her (which to me always feels weirdly abrasive and annoying), just mark things that are unclear and leave it up to her to fix it.
posted by colfax at 12:31 PM on September 15, 2011


The key here is to remember that you are not your wife's writing tutor; you are her editor. Don't offer "feedback" -- just make the necessary changes. Stick to actual errors and lack of clarity rather than style. Ultimately, a stylish cover letter is not that important, unless she's applying to be a New Yorker editor or something. In fact, an overly stylish cover letter could seem weird. If she's really applying for ultra-specialized jobs, and she in fact has all the qualifications, then this is all she really needs to state in the letter. Her experience should speak for itself. All the cover letter needs to do is highlight that experience and refrain from making obvious errors in punctuation and grammar.
posted by yarly at 12:31 PM on September 15, 2011


Limit yourself actual errors and ask questions in the margins to highlight anything that may be a bit unclear - she needs to decide, if she agrees with your question or not and how to fix it, if she wants to.
posted by koahiatamadl at 1:38 PM on September 15, 2011


Do some reading about Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne--the two were editors for one another for decades, and while it wasn't always an easy arrangement, it worked well for both of them.
posted by yellowcandy at 4:41 PM on September 15, 2011


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