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Literary Lights

Priscilla Fagan

Editor = censorship, criticism, wisdom . . .You decide.

There are, it seems, two kinds of editors. The first kind cares mainly about himself, about how his editing performance reflects on him and getting ahead or getting stroked or getting to lunch, as the case may be. Such editors are not editors at all and ought to go to breakfast and stay there. A real editor, however, is a rare thing, and I've been lucky in working with a few. A real editor is focused totally on the writer's work and helping the writer realize a vision of the piece or the book he's set out to do. Editing requires a certain selflessness that is hard to find. David Remnick

As writers, we have one way or another dealt with an editor. Whether through querying our novels or articles to publishing houses or agents, or submitting articles to e-zines, so, what is the definition of an editor? William Sloane tells us his, The editor is a specialist about reading. His specialty is what is sufficiently general and common between a possible readership and what the author has to say. The tool he works with is himself. If the author cannot reach him, he can't reach the editor's readership either. All writers, no matter what genre, seem to agree: editor equals power. How they use that power is the difference between a good editor and a bad one. Being a free-lancer means that you accept the fact that the editor is an absolute despot as far as acceptance/rejections is concerned, and that from his decision, there is no appeal. Isaac Asimov

Opposition to this power also exists:
Gay Talese Listen, then make up your own mind.
Witney Balliett Listen and nod –then put it back in later.
Conor Cruise O'Brien Don't let any of them mess you about.

After all, editors are human, aren't they? John Gardner says, One should fight like the devil the temptation to think well of editors. They are all, without exception–at least some of the time–incompetent or crazy. By the nature of their profession they read too much, with the result that they grow jaded and cannot see new talent though it dances in front of their eyes. Like writers, they are under insupportable pressures: they have to choose books that will sell, or at least bring the publisher honor, so they become hypercritical, gun-shy, cynical. Often they are consciously or (more often) unconsciously guided by unspoken policies of the publishing house or magazine they work for… It is useful, in short, for young writers to think of editors as limited people, though if possible one should treat them politely. Since you've begun to learn the craft of writing, have you become jaded as you read works of others?

Max Frankel tells us, How to handle an editor: grieve for him/her. To paraphrase an old cliché. . .walk a mile in my shoes.

So, have you come to a conclusion about editors yet? I suppose it depends on what your experience has been. All in all, I tend to agree with the advice Herb Caen received, The best advice I've ever received was from my first editor, Paul C. Smith, as I began my column in July 1938: "For God's sake, kid, be entertaining. And remember, I have a short attention span."

With that said, I bid you adieu until next month.

Priscilla, the eternal optimist