The Coven

...work and a new blog to update this one. So sorry to the two other people who read this blog! Catch up with me here

"Every journalist (or writer, or editor...basta anyone in publishing. Additions, mine, obviously) who is not too stupid or too full of himself to know what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible. He is a kind of confidence man, preying on people's vanity, ignorance or loneliness, gaining their trust and betraying them without remorse." (NY reporter Janet Malcolm)

...work to sharpen a writer's voice
...bolster and streamline a piece's arguments
...save writers from themselves (hehe!)

--(source forgotten)

I actually mass emailed this to fellow editors sometime 2004 and forgot all about it. One of the editors I emailed it to, emailed it back to me to remind me about it. Good to remember now that I'm again in the middle of editing the second issue! I think I emailed this to the Coven as well. Girls, anyone remember where I got this from?

Labels: editing

Gosh, kawawa naman The Coven blog, no one's posting in it no more! Everyone's busy, I guess. Or busy with their other blogs, haha!

Anyways, some news: new mag is out. Please buy and support starving editors, hehe...Maganda naman eh! Value for money, promise! There's also gonna be a launch soon. Will keep you posted when and where. In the meantime:

The premiere issue of TraveLife. Cover photography by Kai Huang. Styled by Liza Ilarde. Dress by Joel Escobar. Hair and makeup by Omar Ermita. Modeled by Kelly Misa. Shot on location at Putrajaya, Malaysia

Always liked horror stories/movies. Grew up on them, even if they scared the hell out of me. I used to cover my neck with a blanket for fear that a vampire will come to the window to suck my blood. And I couldn't sleep if doors and closets were open. They have to be shut. Well, up to now, open doors and closets still make me uncomfortable when I'm about to sleep. Anyways, I got off on this whole horror thing because I was trawling the Web instead of working—Sigh. I'm having a hard time writing about a place I haven't been!—and came across this quiz. Have fun!

I haven't actually read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows yet. But I thought I should comment about the whole series coz of the fact that the last book's out already—and yes, I'm feeling kind of sentimental about the whole thing having to end. I kind of envy the kids who grew up on the series. Imagine having a pivotal, major work of literature come out while you were growing up! It's gotta mark them somehow, the same way that my generation has been irrevocably imprinted with Sesame Street, The Electric Company, The Muppet Show—and yes, Voltes V, Mazinger Z, and Daimos. In a way, these TV shows made me who I am today. I wonder what the kids who grew up with Harry will grow up to be like?

Finally, an article that actually talks about what exactly an editor does. This is for all writers—especially wannabes who think they're the next Salman Rushdie or [put name of favorite writer here] and thus don't need editing.

This is also for people who think that what we do is easy. A lot of people have a mistaken notion that editing is all about correcting grammar. Sometimes I wish it were, then I don't have to agonize about every little change I make in a manuscript—not to mention balancing the manuscript's intent with what the publication needs, making sure the writer's ego doesn't suffer, and most of all, pacifying managers who think they know better.

Labels: editing