The Author's Editor As Enabler

I'm talking to you if you are a columnist, lecturer, preacher, speaker, virtual assistant and anyone else who must deal with the written word before going out and trying to conquer the world.

Today, writing a letter, article, speech, campaign, or presentation is a journey in the intellectual as well as the digital worlds. And the Author's Editor is your journeyman who will take you across the river, or downstream, or upstream, or all of the above, as may be necessary depending on what he discerns as your objective and its fulfilment. You want to navigate the river yourself? The journeyman knows better. He knows the river like he knows the bamboo raft and the bamboo pole he uses for steering. He is the Enabler.

Bruce W Speck writes on "The Professional Writing Teacher As Author's Editor" (11 March 2009, Taylor & Francis Online, tandfonline.com).

The author's editor... is an emerging model of the editor-author relationship that focuses on helping authors meet the expectations of gatekeeping journal and book editors. Teachers can use the author's editor model in the professional writing classroom to minimize the current traditional emphasis on the product and emphasize the collaborative nature of the writing process.

If you aim your book to be considered by a publisher, you need an author's editor to meet the publisher's expectations. Your writing will then become a collaborative process, with the author's editor enabling you.

If you aim your speech at convincing your audience to follow your advice, you need an author's editor for you to become convincing.

If you aim your preaching at moving the hearts of your parishioners to donate to your project, say, you need an author's editor to make the appeal without outright begging.

If you aim your column at calling for people to support a cause, you need an author's editor to come up with a superb reason why people should embrace it.

If you aim your campaign at selling technology or service, you need an author's editor to come up with a selling strategy.

Mr Speck also says:

Editing includes teaching authors how to write, but the traditional editor's task, like the teacher's, is complicated by the additional requirement of being a gatekeeper of an author's work. When teachers (like editors) see their primary task as judges or gatekeepers, they can become engaged in adversarial relationships that contradict their role as enablers/teachers.

Actually, traditional editing includes teaching authors how to write, Mr Speck says, but they have a problem, as they are also judges or gatekeepers, and if they assume these roles, they become the opposites of enablers or teachers.

I as author's editor prefer the role of Enabler. I will enable the author to improve his own manuscript by the use of, where appropriate, the 4 Cs of Communication: Coherence, Comprehensiveness, Conciseness & Clarity.

Is your letter, article, essay, speech, manuscript, book or presentation Coherent, meaning, everything ties up together nicely and smoothly? That's for an experienced editor to know by instinct.

Is it Comprehensive? Does it cover the important parts of the subject, question, problem or situation? If there are missing parts, they will become evident to the reader even if they escape your attention. That's why you need an author's editor to make sure you don't miss them.

Is it Concise? Concise means short and to the point. No unnecessary details to impress your client how much you know about the subject. The client is interested in selling ideas or instruments, not the extent of your knowledge.

Is it Clear? Can it be understood by an average English speaker, which should make the listeners or your virtual host happy, wherever that country is. If difficult to understand, how can the listener to the message or receiver of the text appreciate it?

You need an Enabler to convey your message across the void as you need a Journeyman to convey you across a river.