A good editor

“The first draft of anything is shit.”
― Ernest Hemingway

I don't particularly like the body of work Hemingway produced, but he has a logic that is hard to deny. As a student, I write a lot of papers. Unlike a lot of students, though, (as I've covered before) I like to feel that I've learned how to be a better writer, and not just how to make the grade. Sometimes though it is easy to get caught up in arrogance, and just assume that I'm a better writer than my peers and that I need no editing because everything I produce is gold on the first try. 

Wrong. 

Wrong wrong wrong. So very wrong. 

Peer review is not my favorite tool in my writing class, but we do it every time. My favorite method is actually meeting with my professor to have him edit my papers himself. I have a lot more respect for his skills, knowledge, and talents than I do for the 19 year old sitting next to me who thinks that I'm "like... a really good writer, man."

It's fairly magical, though, to take a first draft into his office. Delicate and sensitive, it's like the first few glimpses into your soul. It's embarrassing and messy. But with the right editor.. the paper turns to clay. The two brains work together to mold that mess into a proper thought, a proper moment, a proper story. And then, when it's done, I can go home, reflect on notes and revisions, and REALLY start to write. 

It's magic. Editing isn't editing. Editing IS writing. There is no embarrassment in a sloppy, lazy first draft, as long as you constructively edit it. Nothing amazing was ever written on the first try.