"The Relationship between Editors and Authors: A Lit Review"

About the Author

Kelly Shackelford was home educated. She graduated with highest honors from Cedarville University, Cedarville Ohio, in 2010 with a degree in Technical Writing and Editing. While tutoring in the campus writing center, she became interested in the relationship between editors and authors and how they resolve power struggles. She now works for the Air Force and hopes to improve communication between the government and contractors.

Contents

Introduction

Literature Review

Editorial Techniques

Editorial Techniques (continued)

The Responsibility of Editors

Scenarios

 The Benefits of Editors Taking Responsibility

Conclusion

Works Cited

The Responsibility of Editors

Though the editor/author relationship is frequently portrayed as adversarial, there is no reason for it to remain that way. Much of the tension exists because editors and authors are uncertain of who has ultimate control over the writing, and each side believes they have the right to make the final decisions. As the language experts, editors are responsible for ensuring that the writing is accurate and looks good, but authors, as the producers, are responsible for providing the writing in the first place. It is unlikely that companies will simply get rid of the editorial process, so the two sides must learn to coexist as peacefully as possible.

Research indicates that editors have developed many different ways of responding to conflicts with authors. However, researchers have left out responsibility on the authors’ part: if the two sides are supposed to collaborate, and editors are already attempting to meet authors halfway, what do authors do in response? As far as the research indicates, they do nothing. Researchers have focused exclusively on editors’ actions, perhaps because editors are seen as the interlopers onto the turf of the authors. As a result, I posit that editors are responsible for developing and maintaining good relationships with authors.

Why should editors take all the responsibility for the relationship? Writing is deeply related to self-image and self-reliance, according to Beck. All forms of writing are a personal activity because authors invest part of themselves into every piece they write. Even authors of scientific writing seek the best ways to express themselves on the pages. Then they turn their work over to an editor, who marks it up. Most editors probably see their mark-ups as objective, reflecting only upon the writing. However, Mackiewicz and Riley found that authors perceive it differently, often as a personal attack on their self-image as competent authors. Part of this anxiety, Beck says, results from the evaluative process of writing in education, which authors then transfer onto their relationship with editors. As a result, authors unintentionally put editors on par with English teachers and instinctively rebel against their authority.

Beck suggests that self-reliance in writing results from the American education system wherein “Writing serves as a mark of the educated person, a criterion for graduation, the final exam that each must pass alone” (335). Authors are trained to believe the romantic ideal of the writer sitting alone in his study, waiting for inspiration to strike that is his and his alone. Beck adds that asking for or accepting help with writing is tantamount to authors admitting that they are not educated enough to write alone. Editors are seen as threats to the idealistic vision of the writer, and also as enforcing the idea that authors cannot write well, meaning that the latter are uneducated or unintelligent. Authors’ anxiety about being evaluated in relation to both their self-image and self-reliance results in editors gaining tacit power over authors.

This power means that editors, however unfairly, are responsible for reaching out to authors for the purpose of developing good relationships. Even authors who want editorial assistance do not necessarily enjoy having their work critiqued: they see editors as a necessity, not a blessing. However, Beck states that every writer needs an editor (335). While this statement seems to imply that authors always need outside insight, it also highlights the helping role that editors play and which they should emphasize in their dealings with authors. As mentioned earlier, Mackiewicz and Riley suggest that editors serve as cooperative advisors instead of dictators. But editors must be the ones to reach out to authors. As the people on the lower half of the power balance, authors have already lost face. Acknowledging editorial power will only cause them to lose more. Editors, however, as those with the power can risk losing face by befriending authors because, ultimately, such an action results in more equality and respect between the two groups.