Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

This post is about the person who edits. Most organizations no longer employ an Editor, and that practice is fraught with imminent peril.

Consider The Editor:

An Editor is a professional who is the voice of a company, ensuring that all written materials are accurate and of high quality. They work with writers to improve their content to make sure it flows well while also educating them about best practices for writing well in general.

Some of us remember the day when newspapers had editors who did their jobs, i.e., they ensured high quality in everything published in the newspaper. Per the above definition, newspapers are not the only organizations that should have editors—I believe in editors at every organization.

Writing should be consistent. If we put “banana stand” in one place describing a business, we put “banana stand” in every place that describes that business. We don’t put “a little stall where we sell bananas” and other variations in various places. Newspapers and business are not writing mystery novels. We are communicating or at least attempting to communicate.

Writing should be better. Every day should be better than the prior day. The Editor shows a writer how the written word can be better. The writer takes the advice and writes better from that point forward.

There are many other ways to describe the Editor. There are many sources of information available for that.

Let’s all do better.