Let the SOBCon08 Live Blogging Begin

I’m sitting at the gate at Tampa International Airport waiting for my 8:30 flight to Chicago. I got my laptop cord fixed, so I’m ripping away at some work that’s been piling up, now that I’m not at the office chained to incredibly dry and poorly-written technical documents.

Speaking of editing, I saw Seth Godin’s recent Twitter and went to his blog to see what he’s talking about: Sucking all the juice out.

The Reader’s Digest version of his short post is that is copyeditor took out all of the personality out of his latest work. He doesn’t blame her, but the job description, because she did exactly what a copyeditor is supposed to do. It’s just frustrating to no be able to recognize your work as your own.

A senior editing friend in the magazine world recently told me that most authors see his marks “as some strange rape of their prose.” Ha! I thought that was hilarious. As both a writer and an editor, I can see where he’s coming from. It takes a lot to learn to appreciate peer review and critical analysis. I can also see how Seth is frustrated.

Oppps! They’re calling groups now. Bye!