Sent in by Barney, obviously a writer. I do have sympathy for him, having my stories butchered as well.
A writer and an editor were making their way through a hot, dry desert. After several hours in the blistering heat they spotted an oasis up ahead. The writer, a passionate impetuous creature (like all of us), immediately ran to the pond in the oasis and jumped in. The editor sauntered along at his leisure, finally walked up to the pond’s edge, and, while the writer was still happily splashing about, began peeing in it. Appalled, the writer jumped out and cried, “what are you doing??!!!”
Says the editor: “I’m making it better.”
Comments
Ive always wondered why if an Editor is so good at writing that they correct the writer’s work, they dont just write the stories themselves in the first place.
On the other hand, I guess they have to change something to prove that their job was necessary, right?
Yep, editors are paid to edit, and I should add, some do very much improve a story. OTOH, I often got the feeling they were paid a bonus every time they got a reporter to say “I don’t know.” (“What color was his shoelaces?” is an extreme example;-)
Editors are a necessary thing, but those who are either too cynical or think they know “the” way a story should be written have prompted more than a few gray hairs over the decades.