This is by no means ruling out editing as a practice, just to say that up front. And it is by no means trying to insult anyone who does edit—your job is very important, and I respect that.
As someone who writes, I think that editing is a necessity. It's to make sure that things are true, it's to make sure that things are logically put together, and it's to keep a sense of style signature to a publication. Editing is necessary, and sometimes, it turns out wonderfully.
I do admit, though, sometimes when I edit, I'm not as proud of the end result as I was with the original. Yes, the story would probably make more sense for print, and yes, the story turns out good with my name on it.
But sometimes when it's finished, it doesn't sound like I wrote it anymore. It's like when an artist covers a song. The lyrics, the music, and the intentions behind the song all stay the home. But it loses the voice of the artist in translation (kind of like this picture of my Aunt hiding behind Peter Gabriel's mug).
Now sometimes, this is a good thing. Listening to original demos and then to the people who made them famous? Sometimes it's a very good thing (Whitney Houston owes a lot to Dolly Parton, who originally wrote "I Will Always Love You," and I argue that
Fountains of Wayne's version of "...Baby One More Time" is the best incarnation of Britney's first hit, with
Travis's version being a close second).
But sometimes, you get
Pat Boone covering Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train." Or
Madonna murdering Don McLean's epic "American Pie."
(Come to think of it, this cover war deserves its own post)
But what do you think?
So I was Twitter creeping (yes, I'm on Twitter. Follow me, fools! It's on the right sidebar), and I came across this funny little exchange between my two old editors.
Say what you want about her teaching, but my News I teacher has great timing.
In my quest to finish as many requirements as possible as quickly as possible, I've decided to take the Sports Journalism course over the summer online with Loop (which...I didn't know was an option, so thanks!).
So I realized while I was getting my interviews for the cheating article that got pushed back that...people cheating isn't news.
This is really shameless self-promotion (well, sort of, I copy edit for this), but I want everyone who reads this to go check out Cake Zine, our little indie music magazine we started about 2 months ago. It's fun, it's a little more alternative, and I write for it and copy edit. So click here and spread the link.
Okay. So to clarify.
So apparently, I'm not writing the cheating article. So thanks to everyone who helped.
So in the midst of all these creeper friend requests, I find out from the editor of the Year in Review that my SOA article is making it in.
This is by no means ruling out editing as a practice, just to say that up front. And it is by no means trying to insult anyone who does edit—your job is very important, and I respect that.
Posts
