"Write as clearly and simply and straightforwardly as possible," advised Lillian Ross in the introduction to the 1981 edition of her book Reporting (Dodd Mead). That's the first principle of news writing. "In poetry and fiction there may be a place for ambiguity, but not in reporting." The final principle, said the longtime New Yorker journalist, is "Write to please yourself."
We don't have to be reporters to benefit from such commonsense advice. Similarly, we don't have to work for a magazine or newspaper to profit from the assistance of a good editor--keeping in mind that our editor may be a conscientious teacher or a generous colleague. Inviting and responding to thoughtful criticism should help us to improve our writing.
But how do we know if our editor is a good one and if the advice we're getting is sound? Try measuring your editor (or teacher or colleague) against Ross's list of "helpful" qualities:
What most writers need is not another writer but an editor--someone to talk to about their work, someone capable of giving guidance and help without getting in the writers' way. A helpful editor should have the following qualities: understanding of and sympathy for writers; the editorial talent to recognize and appreciate journalistic and literary talent; an openness to all kinds of such talent; confidence and strength in his own judgment; resistance to fads and fakery in publishing; resistance to corruption and opportunism, to exhortations from people, including writers and other editors, who are concerned with "popularity" and "the market"; moral and mental strength, and the physical strength to sustain these; energy and resourcefulness in helping writers discover what they should write about; literally unlimited patience with selfishness and egotism; the generosity and character required to give away his own creativity and pour it into a group of greedy and usually ungrateful writers. This kind of editor is a rarity. If you're lucky, you may find one. Avoid the following kind of editor: one who does not like writers.
Ross herself had the advantage of working with some of the great editors of the 20th century, including Harold Ross (no relation) and William Shawn (her companion for 40 years). Our own editors may not be famous, and they may not possess all the superhuman traits inventoried by Ross. But to be helpful, they should have talent, sympathy, and patience. And they really ought to like writers.
Selected Works by Lillian Ross:
- Picture (1952)
- Reporting (revised, 1981)
- Takes: Stories from the Talk of the Town (1983)
- Here But Not Here: My Life with William Shawn and "The New Yorker" (2001)
- Reporting Back: Notes on Journalism (2002)
