Dec 27

Dec 27 Why Kindness Is An Essential Part of Editing

‘Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.’ Lao Tzu

I bet the last time you were asked what you most looked for in a book editor, you weren’t exactly thinking about kindness. ‘Eye for detail’ was probably top of your list. ‘Ten-plus years of experience in fiction/non-fiction’ was probably also there, as well as a list of well-known titles or authors the editor helped develop so that you can get a better idea of her/his capabilities.

But while all these are essential credentials, there is one more prerequisite you should include among your absolute must-have attributes for an editor - kindness. Actually, make it an essential prerequisite when looking for anyone you need to connect with - professionally or personally. I certainly do.

Why? And why for editing? Because when you work with kindness, think with kindness and create with kindness, it generates an energy all of its own that frames the whole process with an amazing dynamic that helps everyone involved - the writer and the editor particularly - to see what needs to be done and how to do it in the best way.

When you look at a work through kindness-coloured glasses, it removes all those barriers we spend so much of our life building to protect ourselves against criticism and pain, as writers and editors. Because let’s be honest: who of us isn’t terrified of having our work criticised as not good enough? Whether you’re a writer or an editor, we’ve all lost sleep worrying about what the other will think, and ultimately, what the reader will think. That’s why when you begin with kindness and carry that through, it removes those barriers so that we’re able to genuinely connect with people and their words, their intentions, their ideas. And this, for me, is where the beauty and joy are in editing.

One of the first things I learned as a book editor was to remove my ego from the process. When you think about it, there’s a significant amount of ego involved in much of what we do. To a certain extent, ego is crucial for us to be able to produce work - creative or otherwise. So, I don’t see ego as some terrible part of us that needs to always be quashed. It’s linked to our self-belief and confidence, and can help us achieve great things, especially when it comes to the solitary nature that is writing or editing.

It’s definitely a struggle, therefore, to remove it when you’re working, particularly when the very nature of editing is about relying on your hard-earned abilities to understand, imagine and develop another person’s ideas and words.

That’s why kindness is so key in this process. Because when it’s a part of what you do and how you do it, there’s no question of the ego even coming into the equation. It’s a natural buffer zone. It’s a never-ending bottle of the best intentions and best practice.

And the superb thing about kindness is that it helps us editors find a way into a manuscript, and to find the right words to express where the problems are, without harm. Because, after all, our job is to help, not hinder.

So, don’t be afraid to wish for kindness in an editor and their editing practice, because the wonderful reality is that you will find it. In abundance. For I don’t know any editor who isn’t kind and for whom kindness isn’t part and parcel of their editing.

As 2019 draws to a close, I wish you a glorious and brilliant start to 2020 that is filled with creativity and kindness.