Editing Trigger Warning

 Professor John McIntyre introduces his editing class to new students at Loyola University Maryland,

A few more thoughts on editing:

Editing. It’s like dieting; except a lot more violent. - Leya Delray  

 

I am a lousy copywriter, but I am a good editor. So, I go to work editing my own draft. After four or five edits, it looks good enough to show to the client. - David Ogilvy 

 

I’m a big fan of editing and keeping only the interesting bits in. - Sarah Vowell 

 

Writing is like riding a bike. Once you gain momentum, the hills are easier. Editing, however, requires a motor and some horsepower. - Gina McKnight 

 

Writing without revising is the literary equivalent of waltzing gaily out of the house in your underwear. - Patricia Fuller 

_________________________

You can always edit a bad page.
You can’t edit a blank page.
Jodi Picoult  
_________________________

 

Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good. - Samuel Johnson 

 

Let the reader find that he cannot afford to omit any line of your writing because you have omitted every word that he can spare. - Ralph Waldo Emerson 

 

A good editor is someone who cares a little less about the author’s needs than the reader’s. - Dene October 

 

Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. - Mark Twain 

 

It is perfectly okay to write garbage — as long as you edit brilliantly. - C. J. Cherryh