Editing Words

Oddly, though I edit every day, this post is about a different kind of editing. As I've written before, I am working on a children's book chapter. The writing of that is challenging, to be sure, but I am finding that there's perhaps an even more challenging part of the process--the editing, both of my own chapter, and of other people's. The project is a group effort--among about twenty people--so in between writing our own chapters, we edit the chapters of others, with the idea that, in the end, we will have a far more coherent whole book.
 
As an video editor, I have become fairly used to following my gut. Years ago, a fellow editor reminded me that editing was much more about feeling than about rational decisions, and I have taken that to heart ever since. Editing writing, I suppose, is not all that different--while fixing grammar or spelling is included, what we are really looking to do is beyond the spell-check and grammar-check functions of a computer. It is up to us to feel our way through, so that down the road, our (hopefully many!) middle grade readers will feel something too.
 
The difficulty with "feel" editing is that what makes one person feel is not necessarily the same as what moves someone else. And, while correcting spelling and grammar might be expected, editing for feeling cuts a whole lot closer to the heart of the writer. I know that a part of me went into my chapter as I was writing, so I assume it was that way for my fellow writers. So, when I edit for feeling, I know that it is as if I am editing the writer's emotions. And though my fellow writers may not be my best friends, I know that each has put some part of her/himself out there for this project, the same way I have.
 
So, in this case, editing is about what more than what the reader will feel--it is about what the writer will feel as well. Someday, when we are all published writers, we'll be able (and compelled) to survive something more. For now, it's editing for feeling--and editing my editing for feeling as well.