Nowadays the job of the editor must be far from merely ordering papers and shaping them so that when printing they have a better face, not limited to diagramming or using elegant or trendy typography.
With the rapid spread of the digital world and its contents, the need to have the advice or let's call it "ideal help" to be able to develop content of high impact and transcendence has grown exponentially, either for a social network, a professional website, blogs, or also for the elaboration of editorial contents such as the creation of e-books.
It should no longer be seen as a trade but as the work of an expert who can even make the difference between a writer's success or failure.
On the other hand, the writing of printed content is not far behind and despite the technological advance we are still a little far from disappearing, whatever the case both need the application of the "magic" of what is the editing of content.
Now, when we talk about editing content, of any kind, it is not just about making margin adjustments or the application of spelling and/or grammatical rules.
The work of the editor as such goes beyond that, so much so that it can even help the author of a work to understand its message, its essence, its inner world in a more effective way, channeled through a correction of lines and style without losing the writer's own voice. The editor himself, comes to be the most faithful interpreter for the writer when it comes to conveying a message.
In that sense, the editor will go beyond the written, by making an advanced edition if required, it is immersed in such a way in the writing that it analyzes in order to find all the gaps or remnants of expression in the writing that may interfere with its proper interpretation.
It is put for a moment in the place of the writer and the other is in the place of the reader, (in the latter case the well-known reading tests will play a vital role). This mental dynamic helps the editor locate on both sides where the text's fault may be.
The editor takes into account things that go beyond reading as is, even in some cases performs a historical investigation of the facts, provided that the dates and chronologies narrated are according to the real facts, or created by the writer, to avoid a discrepancy in the common thread of the narrative.
It makes use of the proper property of the words, with great care analyzes the use of words at some point where it perceives that perhaps it is not being properly used, so every editor must have a wide criterion and vocabulary, likewise, use the most updated information of the language in which it edits.
Maintaining the order of ideas throughout the reading is something that sometimes the writer can overlook, and needs to be redirected somewhere in his writing, this is where the sense of guidance in creative writing provides great support.
Not knowing which corner of writing to turn in and where or feeling that writing doesn't flow at some point is very common for writers, so editors want to pause, relax their minds on other activities, and then come back.
When resuming it usually happens that it is detected in what was lost at the time of writing, or discovers some element that makes the writing fruitless falling into vain redundancies of the content, all this can the writer himself know, however, the work of the editor helps to clarify these lows during the process and suggest the appropriate actions to the writer and even correct them.
The role of the editor in the processing of a text is irreplaceable. Placing the editor's name on the credits page as is commonly done should not be seen as a requirement but as a well-deserved recognition.
Today, bibliology makes a classification of publishing as a scientific discipline, with its own categorization, broad, highly investigative, which, together with the logical tools of diagramming, photo composition, graphic design, polygraphic engineering, literary arts, to mention some elements in the editing process has become a pillar today vital for the realization of a quality text.
The editing of texts has been within an evolutionary process adapting and generating new ideas and tools that have revolutionized the technological world of the production of books and texts.
Even so, there is still a long way to go, because there is no university career that establishes a pensum associated with this art and that can educate completely in a specialized way.
However, we find that the majority of those who exercise the honorable work of Editor is one who leaves the university and seeks in a self-taught way to delvedeeper into the field of publishing, thus finding a way to develop to be able to exercise in a professional way.
The editor is formed after a long process, as a researcher, designer, writer, educator, bibliographer, psychologist, connoisseur of the arts in general, comes to develop a broad criterion of life, sense of empathy, perception of the spirit and many other things that together give him a broad sense to exercise his work.
The mind of the editor by vocation is a wonderful world of infinite ideas, imagination and creativity that complement and shape the paths traced by the writer.
Thanks for reading me!
See you soon...