Writing, Editing, and Modeling

Hemingway said: “the only kind of writing is rewriting.” I take that to heart, and I have spent countless hours editing the work of others. I think it paid off for my organizations and staff.

Close editing by an executive director or president could be seen as micromanaging at the expense of high-level strategic activities, but I strongly believe there is great value in taking time to ensure your organization’s communications are the best they can be.

Early in my career, I had a supervisor become spitting mad about an editing error in a document our organization had published. S/he bellowed, “This publication represents [organization name redacted]. We will not be taken seriously if people think this represents our work!”

This supervisor was known for explosive reactions, which made it almost impossible to receive any useful feedback. However, I had great colleagues who were also subjects of his anger, and together, we were able to extract a useful message. Why should our readers trust our research if our final document cannot correctly distinguish between its and it’s?

When I was in high school, my father imparted a similar message, though in a kinder way. He often said that the people at his company who advanced the fastest were those who could write. Perhaps I was able to find a valuable takeaway from my explosive supervisor because I had already been prepped by my father’s thoughtful, constructive advice (and patient editing).

As a result of these experiences, I model a willingness to be edited, and I take the time to edit for others. I have talked about the importance of writing, editing, and organizational representation hundreds of times with my staff over the years.

While I try to explain what I am doing and that I will really dig in, I have felt their exasperation when they see the number of revision marks in documents. But, over time, the need for heavy edits diminishes and the overall quality of communication increases. Like my former supervisor, though more tactfully, I see publications and other external communications as representations of the organization; we have an obligation to our mission to present the organization in the best light possible for the long term.

Like Hemingway, I accept that the editing process is iterative, and multiple rounds of editing and revising are necessary for high-stakes writing. After the back and forth between editors and writers, I have a final editing process that involves two steps: one that is easy and obvious and one that often initially confuses people until they try it.

First, read your writing out loud. This is not a novel idea, but it is effective. If there are sentences you stumble over when reading aloud, stop and figure out why, and rewrite it.

Second, read the entire document backwards. Not word-for-word, but start with the last paragraph and read it first, then the second to last, etc. This tricks the brain into not anticipating what you may or may not have written but instead into actually reading the words and understanding the rhetorical structure within each paragraph. Try it; you will be surprised by how it changes your perception of your writing, and I’m sure you will find places to improve it.

Yes, editing takes a lot of time, but if we are going to represent our organizations and ourselves in the best possible light, it is time well spent. Moreover, as leaders, developing the skills of our staff is a core responsibility. Oh, and don’t yell!