We all love to complain, especially when those complaints are generic. It fills a certain need, I think. Perhaps it gives a sense of belonging, of oneness or agreement with others. Among writers some of those darts are aimed at editors.
Those who do not write, I think, mostly read for pleasure and tend to be more forgiving of a certain number of editing errors in what they read. As long as the book flows, holds their attention, and entertains them, they are willing to overlook some weaknesses.
That changes when readers become writers. I know, because it happened to me. Other writers tell me it is the same for them. We notice every spelling error, every bit of missing or incorrect punctuation, every overused word. While we disagree on what we enjoy reading, the one thing we do tend to agree on is that books must be well (read perfectly) edited before being offered to the public – to readers, including us. Continue reading “Don’t Shoot the Editor”