Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Please hire some editors in your business. They are need in many more ways than most persons expect.

This is a post about editors—the human variety who read and change what others write.

First, we have editors who collect writings from a variety of persons and combine them into one writing. Their job is consistency. Change all the writings so that they appear to come from one person, not many. Yes, the many writers might not like this, but we are trying to please the reader, i.e., the paying customer. The reader wants a smooth, consistent reading experience.

Second, we have editors who edit what people enter in databases. What? Yes. The greatest problem with databases is that one person types “television” while the next types “TV” and the next types “tv” and so on. All our smart software can’t discern and collect and merge and all the things an editor can do. See, e.g., how “gardeners” do it on Wikipedia.

I find that the need for the second employment of editors dwarfs the first. I find that the use of the second employment of editors is dwarfed by the first. I also find, yes, this is becoming more discouraging as I write, that the use of the first employment of editors is also dwarfed by the need.

Sorry folks, the state of software today is not good enough to replace a competent editor, i.e., the human variety who read and change what others write.