So, with my job, I am sometimes assigned to the final edit of a manuscript previously edited by someone else. I never communicate directly with authors, but each assignment comes with notes from the author. This one––oooh, so angry at the first-pass editor. What a punk.
The author wrote: "For example, consider the following from [title of story here]: "But Mr. Wilson was made of sterner stuff; he was as determined as a bloodhound, as tenacious as a pit bull, and as stubborn as a beagle." This was corrected to: "...he was as tenacious as a pit bull and refused to give up." Understandably, the author was a bit miffed about this suggested change. Me, too! The author followed it up with this comment: "In some of the stories, the 'corrections,' although grammatically correct, seemed to flatten the emotion and intended humor."
I guess it's like any profession, where the not-so-great editors give us all a bad name with their overreaching, overzealous "corrections," which really cannot be justified.
Also, I'm a little sad to be working for a company who has also hired an editor of such low caliber. We need some quality control around here!
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