Comments for The Watershed Chronicle

Comment on 2012 Isn’t The End Of The World But It Is A Time Of Transition by Shelley Evans

Shelley Evans — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:31:02 +0000

Amen, Dan.

Comment on Introduction by Dan Meadows by Kristi Eisenberg

Kristi Eisenberg — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 14:42:13 +0000

Dan,

I just found your site and am enjoying your writing very much, including your reflections on the Cecil Whig which I have followed more or less for about 50 years.

I hope the universe has treated you well since you wrote this introduction in 2009.

Best wishes,
Kristi

Comment on Dirty Tricks Are For Kids…and people who work in publishing by Len Feldman

Len Feldman — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 17:17:50 +0000

Dan, to your point…about a month ago, publishers of free newspapers all across the San Francisco Bay Area found 110 of their stolen news racks in and around a dumpster on the grounds of the San Jose Mercury News. When the publishers tried to retrieve the racks that were still usable, Mercury News private security men and managers stopped them. The Merc subsequently claimed that it was asked by a number of cities, including Palo Alto, to remove the racks, but a spokesperson for Palo Also said that it hadn’t requested that the racks be removed, and that it would have contacted the affected publishers directly if it did want them to remove the racks.

The San Jose and Palo Alto police are now investigating the Mercury News for theft. Here are two links: http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/theft-newspaper-racks-spreads-other-bay-area-citie/nQBB6/ and http://www.sanjoseinside.com/news/entries/8_2_12_mercury_news_stolen_news_racks/.

Comment on The Editor Fallicy…Falacie…Fallacy…yeah, that’s it, Fallacy by Beth Greenapple

Beth Greenapple — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 04:45:31 +0000

I’m not going to enter into the argument about whether editors are or are not necessary. However, I will state unequivocally that proofreading is a dying art in traditional publishing as well as “indie” or self-publishing, and it’s a shame. I am sick to death of finding spelling, punctuation, grammatical (not style or dialect) and word errors in trade publications, magazines, and everything else I read. I even found one or two in your blog post. I’m just saying…

Comment on The Editor Fallicy…Falacie…Fallacy…yeah, that’s it, Fallacy by Claire

Claire — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 01:47:02 +0000

I love that you reacted to my comment about your unpleasant sentence featuring the words ‘slid into a position filled with tedious shit-work’ about an editor’s job with one containing ‘pissed all over their profession’. You clearly have a beautiful command of tone!

Comment on The Editor Fallicy…Falacie…Fallacy…yeah, that’s it, Fallacy by Dan Meadows

Dan Meadows — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 01:14:12 +0000

Oh, I’m not defensive, I was just curious because I noticed this uptick in traffic coming from Facebook but I had no clue where, specifically. I actually kind of enjoy it. You’re right, there are quite a few well-reasoned comments over there. I’ll try not to take the criticism personally, considering I did pretty much piss all over their profession. I’m actually glad to see some editors took up the charge to defend themselves. There are good ones out there, and judging by some of the comments I read on their Facebook page, it sounds like there’s at least a few populating that group.

Comment on The Editor Fallicy…Falacie…Fallacy…yeah, that’s it, Fallacy by claire

claire — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 00:54:48 +0000

Don’t know, but it’s surely not a bad thing. You’re trying to start a debate, aren’t you? The SfEP was where I saw your post, and more or
less all of what’s said is interested and constructive, so no need to be defensive.

Comment on The Editor Fallicy…Falacie…Fallacy…yeah, that’s it, Fallacy by Dan Meadows

Dan Meadows — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 23:53:18 +0000

Is that where all the Facebook traffic’s coming from, the British Society of Proofreaders and Editors? I was wondering. I’ll have to check that out, I’m sure they love the hell outta me.

Comment on The Editor Fallicy…Falacie…Fallacy…yeah, that’s it, Fallacy by Claire

Claire — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 22:54:44 +0000

I’ve made my comments on the British Society for Editors and Proofereaders Facebook page. One thing I would add is that that the description of an editor as ‘someone who slid into a position filled with tedious shit-work’ has stayed with me all day. Maybe you really are a great writer! You’re kind of right. Yes, there are some boring bits involved, but I’ve never wanted to be a writer and have always enjoyed being an editor. Slagging off a job largely done by badly underpaid women is no way to make yourself popular with your readership. Or with anyone.

Comment on The Editor Fallicy…Falacie…Fallacy…yeah, that’s it, Fallacy by Mike Pope

Mike Pope — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 17:21:01 +0000

>”there are an abundance of lousy editors out there, more than not, I believe. Editors are no different than any other field of endeavor. There’s four or five bad to mediocre ones for every good one, and out of every 50 or so good ones, you might see one reach exceptional status.”

Actually, same for writers. There are many more people who think they’re good writers than, you know, there actually are.

Viewed from one perspective, your piece basically says that a not-very-good editor won’t add (much) value to your writing, but that a good one is a great find. Surely that’s advice that’s not limited to editors.

I’ve done both writing and editing. I learned a lot about writing from good editors, to whom fortunately I was exposed early. I learned a lot about writing by being an editor as well, and I like to think that I taught a lot about writing to those whose work I edited. Many, many of those people were writing not because they were all lit up with the flame of being an indie author, but because it was part of their job and they wanted to look and sound good. (And the company we worked for wanted that as well.)

If nothing else, an editor is a second set of eyes and your work’s first reader. A problem with writing is that it’s difficult (until some longish time after finishing) to be able to read your own work with any sense of what it’s like to not be you, not understand what you understand, not view things the way you view things. As you say, a good editor can bring additional value to the work, in terms of understanding and articulating ways in which your writing can be improved.

Editing is, ideally, a partnership between author and editor. It’s surely not, as you say, some sort of gatekeeper function that’s preventing you from expresing yourself. Or let’s say that if that’s the role that the editor seems to be playing, it’s probably time to reevaluate that relationship.