tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6126042.post-1102553817477749072004-12-09T01:05:00.000Z2004-12-31T23:44:30.350Z There was one particular point we forgot to mention in our last 800-word tirade about the importance of getting your communication right for your reader. While we were emphasising the need to write for the reader, we didn't say anything about the other side of the coin — the need to edit for both the reader and the writer. Those of us who do both, editing and writing, know who has the harder task. The writer writes, with no ultimate responsibility to anything but the content and anyone but the reader. The editor shares both these responsibilities, but also assumes the added burden of keeping faith with the style or persona of the writer. That's not to say that most of the material we are paid to work on has anything resembling style, in the high-faluting literary sense. But even after the skilled e-editor has done his or her worst, cutting and polishing like some dedicated craftsman in an Antwerp diamond house,* the shorter, clearer, stronger piece that emerges should still have something of the author in it. Almost intuitively, the editor will work to preserve or echo the speech rhythms and syntax that appear in the draft text. Words and phrases will be chosen that sit comfortably alongside the author's own phrasing. Odd or eccentric expressions may survive into the final document, simply because they carry the stamp of an individual consciousness and something would be lost if their idiosyncrasies were ironed out. Except in contexts where no bylines are used and house rules dictate a homogenised style, conserving these glimpses of personality and voice is important. The sense of characters behind the words is part of what makes a publication or a Web site feel alive and vivid, though most people are completely unaware of it at any conscious level. Experience teaches, of course, that non-professional authors almost invariably believe their style has been ruined and their meaning twisted in the subbing process, while the professionals usually appreciate what's been done for them. The trick is to put the content and the audience first. Once you know the text is saying what it should, in a way that will be clear and accessible to your audience, you can then start worrying about the writer's voice and personality. You may even find, on a final read-through, that you can see opportunities to restore a couple of words or phrases that are obviously dear to the author's heart, as the context is now clear enough to make them work. If so, do it. It makes good career sense to keep as many of these people on your side as possible. * Incidentally, our research shows that about 40% of a rough diamond is lost in the cutting and polishing. We think that's an interesting figure, and one that might give a useful clue to the degree of cutting many business drafts could bear. ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00882602151850785568noreply@blogger.com