by Janet Pollock Millar
Like many of us at the beginning of COVID, I was cast adrift when I lost my job at the college writing centre. I had invested almost three years doing contract work in the hope of acquiring permanent status. Now there was no indication when or if I’d be called back.
I decided to pursue the editing career I’d considered on and off over several decades after completing an undergraduate English degree and post-degree teacher training. Simon Fraser University had moved its editing certificate program online, so now was my chance. The editing program included courses in substantive editing, stylistic editing, copy editing, and proofreading. I also volunteered my skills with a local non-profit organization, editing their print and digital communications. In the eerie calm of lockdown, I also decided to restart my long-abandoned writing practice.
Not only has my training and experience in editing enabled me to see my own writing more objectively—to edit it for structure, organization, and precision—but one of the most important skills I learned in the editing program was the art of querying—communicating tactfully with writers, whether they are clients or students. Being able to ask questions of an author and make suggestions in a respectful and effective way helps me give appropriate feedback in my writing critique group, but these skills also help me when I’m on the receiving end of editing. After two years of sending writing into the void, I finally began to have pieces published in magazines and literary journals, and in some of these instances, my pieces have been edited by someone at the publisher. Particularly with non-fiction pieces, I’ve sometimes been edited quite heavily so that the piece better fits the mandate and style of the journal.
Having been on the editing side of the coin helps me work well with someone who is editing my own piece. Sometimes this means conceding to the editor when I realize they have a valid reason for an edit. Other times I need to counter-query, explaining my reasons and diplomatically asking the editor to reconsider; often, they do. Either way, my training and experience in editing have helped develop my communication and negotiation skills.
It goes the other way as well—developing my own writing skills has made me be a better editor and writing coach. As I began taking courses in writing fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, I notice that the more tools I acquire for my own writing, the more useful the feedback I’m able to give during exchanges in my critique group. To be clear, members of our critique group function more as each other’s writing coaches, sharing observations and making suggestions rather than making changes to each other’s work. The same is true of the feedback I give to students in my work at the writing centre.
We sometimes hear stories of people who are exclusively writers having unpleasant experiences working with people who are exclusively editors, and vice versa. Any good personal or business relationship requires each party to be able to take the perspective of the other. Knowledge of and respect for the other person’s role includes acknowledging the limits of one’s own role and observing appropriate boundaries. Good communication skills contribute to maintaining this delicate balance.
As it turned out, I was rehired by the college for the fall 2020 term and obtained permanent status in August 2021. I was also able to complete the editing certificate thanks to a flexible supervisor. Although I am now no longer pursuing an editing career, my efforts were not wasted. Not only is this credential good to have in my back pocket, but the editing training I received and my writing practice each benefit the other. COVID has been devastating for so many, and in so many ways, but I’m grateful that some good came out of it for me—being able to pursue two long-dormant interests that bring out the best in each other.
Janet Pollock Millar is a writer, educator, and editor living on lək̓ʷəŋən territory in Victoria, British Columbia. Her work has been published, or is forthcoming, in Herizons, United Church Observer, Island Writer, This Magazine, Pangyrus, The Font, and The Malahat Review. She works in the Writing Centre at Camosun College.
This article was copy edited by Ambrose Li.
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