Pearple Prose: Ben Pearce on Editing · 6:13am Feb 14th, 2018
I wrote an article about editing, how to get better at it, and how to be a nice guy while doing it.
I am very proud of it, and I hope you will all enjoy it.
Writers should absolutely be fully capable of handling criticism, if they’re expecting at all to take their work with a level of professionalism. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the editor’s job is to be the bad guy. I’ve heard stories from editors of conflicts between the writer and their editor(s) making the work far harder than it needs to be, and keep in mind that writers (and artists in general) are often their own worst critics.
Take the time to talk, and experiment, and see the different ways a work can be changed. Try to preserve the writer’s intent. These are the things that I and others value, and so that’s what I thought I’d pay special attention to today.
One reason I specifically avoided getting a dedicated outside editor during my most prolific pony writing days is because I heard all the "best" editors make you feel bad and tear your story a new one.
I wrote some stories that maybe aren't as good as they technically could be, but it was a lot of fun, and most of them hold up even now. Which if you ask me is really the only outcome you can hope for.
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I think a lot of young writers prop up those kinds of editors because they think that's what an editor should be like. Because, y'know, that's probably all they know, and they're too green to know any better.