Letters to the Editor
-
Editing? What editing?
I don't know how many times I've submitted stories to publications that insist that all editing be done in advance. Even worse is when a piece emerges from the editorial depths in worse shape than it was going in, and I don't mean that My Precious Prose has been tampered with. I mean that my stories have sprouted sentence fragments, punctuation errors, mangled verb tenses, and other new problems that are now my problem to correct.
It's frustrating. On those rare occasions when I work with good editors, I'm appreciative to the point of groveling, but that's not what I usually get. I now submit work assuming that it isn't going to be edited competently, if at all. Unfortunately, I'm usually right.
Writers no longer get away with dumping our rough drafts onto someone else's lap because there is no such lap. We have to do it ourselves. Sometimes I hate this, because sometimes a second pair of eyes sees what I missed. At other times, I see this as a good thing. I can't get complacent or careless, and both are the kiss of death.