I have to admit. I am naturally resistant to editing. I was that kid who used to write a poem and and then leave it. I would move onto the next one, believing that editing would only destroy the magic and leave the poem weaker.
I continued that habit into high school and then into college. The bad habit that started with poetry when I was 11, persisted into my 20s with all of my writing. I'm not really sure how I got away with it for so long.
Before grad school, just one person ever explained it to me and that person, Patrick, is my best friend from high school. A few years ago, Patrick started writing poetry seriously and would talk about the wonders of editing. He said that's where his poems began. They would become better, stronger iterations of themselves after each edit. I kind of scoffed.
"What about the magic," I asked.
He told me there is no magic. Just agonizing, exhausting, mind-numbing editing. Every morning before he went to his job as a preschool teacher, he would wake up to move commas and search for the precise word. I wondered if I would ever become that kind of editor. I figured it wouldn't happen until I was forced. As my quantitative methods professor used to say, the mind is hard wired to find the shortest possible path to resolution. It's not that we mean to be lazy. It's just that we're wired to find the path of least resistance.
This summer, I learned the kind of editing Patrick talked about. The editing process with stories is now longer than the reporting process. The interviews seem easy at this point. That's the fun part. The icing. The hard part is being merciless with the copy. Cutting out every redundancy.
I love the lines "the lean editor is the mean editor" and I really love "kill your darlings."
I spent hours last week editing with various city editors and copy editors. It was mind-blowing to see how they work: being critical of every line and thinking of all the possible phrasings (as writers) and interpretations (as readers).
Although I am exhausted both mentally and physically, I am sad this advanced reporting class is ending. It's the hardest and most enjoyable course I've ever taken. There is something insanely difficult, yet rewarding about reporting. If I get to continue doing it, I will be grateful.
But the million dollar question at this point is, how do I get more stamina?
I continued that habit into high school and then into college. The bad habit that started with poetry when I was 11, persisted into my 20s with all of my writing. I'm not really sure how I got away with it for so long.
Before grad school, just one person ever explained it to me and that person, Patrick, is my best friend from high school. A few years ago, Patrick started writing poetry seriously and would talk about the wonders of editing. He said that's where his poems began. They would become better, stronger iterations of themselves after each edit. I kind of scoffed.
"What about the magic," I asked.
He told me there is no magic. Just agonizing, exhausting, mind-numbing editing. Every morning before he went to his job as a preschool teacher, he would wake up to move commas and search for the precise word. I wondered if I would ever become that kind of editor. I figured it wouldn't happen until I was forced. As my quantitative methods professor used to say, the mind is hard wired to find the shortest possible path to resolution. It's not that we mean to be lazy. It's just that we're wired to find the path of least resistance.
This summer, I learned the kind of editing Patrick talked about. The editing process with stories is now longer than the reporting process. The interviews seem easy at this point. That's the fun part. The icing. The hard part is being merciless with the copy. Cutting out every redundancy.
I love the lines "the lean editor is the mean editor" and I really love "kill your darlings."
I spent hours last week editing with various city editors and copy editors. It was mind-blowing to see how they work: being critical of every line and thinking of all the possible phrasings (as writers) and interpretations (as readers).
Although I am exhausted both mentally and physically, I am sad this advanced reporting class is ending. It's the hardest and most enjoyable course I've ever taken. There is something insanely difficult, yet rewarding about reporting. If I get to continue doing it, I will be grateful.
But the million dollar question at this point is, how do I get more stamina?
