Re: Mere editing (Re: He said...She said...He said...etc.)

["Maggie Secara" <maggie -dot- secara -at- indymacbank -dot- com>]

Oops, changed the subject line too soon.

What I originally appended under this heading, then decided to save for a
separate point was this:

This all seems to boil down to a sort of class rivalry between what I'm
hearing as "real writing" and "mere editing".  I don't think most of us very
often get to be just a writer.  Editing is always part of the job,
especially where there are legacy documents involved.  You have to be good
at both.  You do either job better, the better you know the subject matter.

So, I take everything I can get, including access to the software, to write
what I write.  When I get a spec (god be praised) to work from, I'm not just
massaging that spec and making a few corrections.  It's just one more piece
of the input.  I am not going to turn down anything already sketched out
just because I might not be a real writer if I do.

My manager on my very first contracting job said I was a better editor than
a writer, and I was a helluva writer. I chose to believe him :)  It has
always taken both skills to do my job.


Maggie Secara



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