Language Theory: What You’re Really Editing Is the Person

This week several editors attended an Editors Canada webinar: “Language Theory: What You’re Really Editing Is the Person” presented by Michael (Mike) Jones at the University of Calgary. He questioned if editors can be “advocates for the reader” (in the words of EAC President Anne Louise Mahoney), and together we examined the relationship between writer and editor. What is the order of allegiance for editors between employer, writer, and reader? Concluding statements:

• “An editor’s job is to shape the expression of an author’s thoughts, not the thoughts themselves.”
• “If a text doesn’t ‘sound right’ to you, consider the reader and the author and find a compromise.”