When “spontaneous combustion” does or does not work

Whenever I post something about my writing in difference to general things about the writer’s life, I try to also produce some thought about writing. So, I attempt to do that again here, with my latest writing movements.

This writer knows his grammar

Just adding the word may have provided accuracy when one could have missed it out. But is it true?

Cool view

A powerful force arrested him

And pushed him down the alley

Where he heard a clown

Speaking jests

I must have been so fooled by the sight

Like a vision made me see a whole other world, behind the wall

It blew my senses

Then, I was lost in my thoughts

Intrigue surrounded me

And I slowly felt my myself submitting to the sounds

Of my heart beating

To the rhythm of another unusual sight

Then, I saw this man standing there, this awkward looking guy

I kept going back to hear his ditty

It was kind of magnetizing me

I could not resist

He was so uncool

Then he showed me how cool he was, just for a moment

I was curious and wanted more.

I am his editor

When the page comes together

The headline, the opening paragraph, and the photos, all come together to set the tone for the article. The editors did this extremely well, although I wasn’t expecting it, nor did I intend it. But it did serve the readership and I am pleased how the article turned out. The whole article reflected one basic idea that was introduced in the headline, the photos, and the opening paragraph which would make the reader identify with one main idea. What a writer thinks should be emphasized isn’t always going to be fitting or appropriate for the readership so the editors can construct a frame for the article which fits. I am quite happy with this, although I intended another emphasis, but can still along with how it was done.

Small touches matter: the edit that counts

Do small touches make the difference to an article? Like a slight tweak, a slight delete, a shortening, a change of word? Emphatically, yes! But it depends. Sometimes, it wouldn’t matter, but other times, it may sort out the clutter and expression, say, into something more readable, exciting, or colorful.

Editing that works

An editor of mine, a while ago, had the good sense to ‘broaden’ or ‘widen’ my paragraphs. In my submitted piece, I sometimes stopped a paragraph quite short, but the editor widened the paragraph out, to add to that paragraph the next one after it, so it became one paragraph. In the end, it worked.

Writing to make an impression on the editor

A brief guide on how to make a positive impression with an editor for any writer like me who’s been learning as they go along. I’ve found that one way to make a good impression with an editor, is to write the piece good enough that it doesn’t look like it needs editing. That’s one way to whet the editor’s appetite, as well as making the piece appealing, interesting and ticks the boxes of the writer’s guidelines.

Why do editors not edit things?

Why would an editor not edit a piece that is going to be published? The answer may be simple. The piece is good enough and so good enough that editing it would waste their precious time when they could be doing other things. Why spend time on what doesn’t need fixing, when they are other, perhaps more pressing things to do that need the editor’s time and effort? When it’s a weekly newspaper or such like, time is a precious commodity.

When editors publish your work

It’s good even great to get editors to accept your work and publish it even when some things were edited out because they were “inappropriate”. The editor must make a judgement call and cut the inappropriate stuff out. This is done so the readers are served. Most of the article is suitable, but some additional things in the article may not be serving the readers, so are slashed out of the article. The edited parts seemed innocuous, but then I’m not the reader and the editor has an obligation that their readers are served.

Helpful editors in time of need

Looking back, a really old review of mine was given major editorial treatment, in other words it was in need of cosmetics. It was given a face lift. I provided the content, that went untouched. Thank you, editor.

Confession: the editor saved my article

In retrospect, certain embarrassing turns of phrase and articulations in a column I wrote were going to make my column sound off-color. But a good editor saved me from such embarrassments. Having wrote the article, I sent it off to the editor, this was back in 2002. Sometimes, I may write a sentence or paragraph that I don’t double check for how it sounds. Looking back at the version I submitted, most of the article sounded fine — apart from a couple of things that would have spoiled the entire tone of the article. Just imagine it got published exactly as submitted. Such was my thought as I looked back at my submission. But an editor looked over my submission. And the editor who is doing a great job can save an article by making a few necessary adjustments. And save the writer from embarrassing moments that would have spoiled the tone of the article and make the writer look a little embarrassed. Consistency can be important to an article, or at least a sense of it. But a few off-kilter moments can spoil the broth. But the day the editor saved me from such moments is a day I had a great editor.

Good, unexpected lessons from editors

Editors are there to present your work, but I wasn’t expecting life lessons as well. However, I’ve finally grasped what they were on about. And it’s all true. There were two lessons, both points resonating now.