Your Editor Is Not Your Enemy
By Andrea Merrell Editors have been called everything from Grammar Nazis to Professional Nit-pickers. Many folks have a love/hate relationship with the ones they have worked with. Let’s rephrase the saying, “Don’t shoot the messenger” to “Don’t shoot the editor.” The first time we get our manuscript back and see where the editor has bled all over the pages with red ink—or demolished our manuscript with track changes and comments—our heart almost stops, and our brain goes into panic mode. Our first thought might be, Oh, my goodness, I thought I was a writer … guess it’s back to flipping burgers. After the initial shock wears off and we readjust our attitude (putting on our teachable hat ), we make a decision to learn from the process. What we have to realize is that the editor is not our enemy. (I recently saw a meme on Facebook that said "The editor is not our enema." All the more reason we need our editors). On the contrary, an editor's role is to help teac...
