Editing and Management Style

by Joe Wallace

Believe it or not, new editors, your editing skills are often closely tied to your management skills. Much depends on the nature of your editing job but one thing’s for sure–editing someone else’s work requires the same amount of tact and the interpersonal skills required to be an effective leader.

If you’re one of the lucky ones who get to edit without interpersonal consequences, my hat is off to you, but for many more of us, talking with the person you edit is a requirement.

How do you edit someone else’s work and keep it professional and friendly? New editors often feel intimidated when editing the work of someone senior to them and perhaps rightfully so (in some cases). Are you on your game enough to give constructive criticism?

Here’s how to go about those uncomfortable early discussions:

• Read the piece without considering who wrote it. Review the text for its own sake and discard your personal knowledge of the author. You’ll find yourself looking at the work far more objectively than if you keep reminding yourself you have to face your writer.
• When offering a critique of the work, don’t use “you” and “I” pronouns. Say “we” and “us” instead. “You” sounds like a criticism, “we” sounds like a group effort.
• Instead of issuing a direct order or an edict about changing the copy, try suggesting instead. That makes your ideas sound less like “I know better” and more like “We’re almost ready for press time, just one more tweak.”
• Remember when you got your first editorial critique? Try to access your feelings from way back then and use them to guide your decisions about how to discuss changes with your writers.

Tags: editing, Editing Advice, editing how to