A fiction editor’s brain is an amazing thing. It’s like a giant machine with a switch for every variation in a language that is constantly changing and innovating.
How does it work?
First we set the switches for standard grammar and punctuation. We consult the style manual that the client has chosen and adjust the switches. The publisher has some preferences. We flick those switches. There’s a previous book in the series where some decisions were different. We flick those switches for consistency. The author has expressed several preferences and the publisher is happy with those. We flick some switches.
We hold most of this information in our minds: the common variants and the common preferences, but we also note them down on a style sheet so we can have a clear picture of all the settings for the next book by this author. We’ll also pass this style sheet on to the next person so they can set their own machine.
This editor brain is connected to a lifetime of experience communicating with humans and consuming human communication through all kinds of media. It is finely tuned to the way people actually speak. It also has that sensitive “this doesn’t feel right” detector, and “I’ve seen that before” alert. It also has common sense and general knowledge based on fact, and when it doesn’t know the facts, it has a repository of trustworthy resources to consult that do.
Having configured our editor brain for the job, we go through the manuscript, comparing what we see to the whole corpus of knowledge and preferences in our minds, considering tone and nuance and the flexibility of fiction, and do people speak that way in this world? Invariably we find something new, some innovation of language or the bendy rules of fiction, and we ask the author “was this deliberate?” or “do I need to adjust my settings?” and then their answer is added to the style sheet. And more switches are flicked.
Sounds like something an actual machine can do.
Of course the AI people think a machine can do this. But the machines they have made have about ten switches to our infinity, and some are a bit wobbly. They don’t even come close to the one in the editor brain. Maybe one day they’ll get there, but the thing is, since language is constantly evolving and the art of writing is forever innovating, I think AI is going to be playing catch-up for a very long time. And we human editors have a massive head start.
Help! How do I turn it off?
This editor brain requires a lot of energy and is coin-operated, so we recommend switching it to enjoyment mode while using social media or in casual communication, or while reading for fun
What about other subject areas?
I edit fiction, so this is how my brain works, but my colleagues tell me it’s almost the same for any kind of editing, from nonfiction to academic to medical or science editing.
