Trusting your gut on editing jobs
- Elaine Cooney
- Apr 22, 2024
- 3 min read
About 13 years ago, I encountered a dilemma as I began helping students polish their theses before submitting them. I spent a fortnight turning one nonsensical thesis into a work of art. Something the student, who had a million other skills except writing, felt so proud of, he told his peers.
Soon the theses came rolling in. My task was to conjure up the same editing magic as I did for their friend. Some were well written and needed a basic edit and proofread, while others lacked sentence structure; the syntax was chaotic; and there was no flow. All easy fixes. I made them presentable after a few days’ work – or after a million pdf stickies asking what they meant by this sentence. The answers came back, and the sentences were fixed, leaving them with a readable and engaging thesis to present to their lecturer. However, I started to get theses in from people who had not done the basic research. Half-baked clusters of words that lacked any meaning or depth. They came in all different subjects from literature and philosophy to medicine and engineering. The subject does not matter to a good editor. We are looking for good sentence structure and flow and making sure ideas are expressed clearly. The ideas are up to the author. When I went back to one student to say, “I’m no engineer, but this is not done. I can’t write your thesis for you,” he would make a few basic additions and send it back to me. (This happed a few times). It needed the subject matter expert – not the editor – to complete his ideas and to draw his conclusions. I found myself giving suggestions about including information on pistons (or some kind of mechanical thing) and realised I was in over my head. This was not finished, and certainly not ready to be edited. No amount of polish can cover up a lack of core material. I know I should have drawn the line at the beginning when it was obvious the work was not done, and I learnt from that mistake. Sure, I could have given it a basic edit and sent it back to him, but it still wouldn’t have been in a presentable – let alone passable – state, so to do that would be dishonest and he would not get the outcome he desired in the end. Like most editors, I don’t specialise in particular academic subjects, but if I did – say I was also an engineer – it is unacceptable to ask an editor to help you complete an assignment. It’s also unethical for editors to take part in such an exchange.
Another murky territory, which I have not encountered myself, but I know others who have, is the writing of emails to impress a love interest. If the client is unable to express themselves emotionally and intellectually and an editor or ghostwriter helps with this process, they may win over that person who believes they are someone they are not. I wouldn’t want any part of that process. I would put myself in the shoes of the person lured in under false pretences, and that would not sit well in my soul. That’s the ethics check for me. If my work could be used to deceive anyone, then I must decline the offer.
Business writing; fiction; non-fiction; and embellishing and constructing book chapters under some basic guidance, sits quite comfortably with me. This is helping someone’s business grow or giving them a book to author. No one gets hurt in this process, and it’s not the same as asking an editor to do your homework for you. It’s an ethical business exchange and I’m here for it. @writeforyouec writeforyou.info
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