When I tell people I’m an editor, I get some interesting comments…

“Wow, you must really know how to spell great!”

“So, what, you fix commas and stuff?”

“An editor, huh? Don’t you get tired of rewriting other people’s stuff?”

“Don’t you get tired of reading?”

“Wow, so you get to tell authors what to do, huh?”

What’s especially interesting to me is that some of these comments aren’t, as you might expect, from people outside of the writing or publishing world. Which made me wonder how well writers understand the different editing tasks and the people who perform them. As you may have guessed, that will be the topics of my next few blogs. But before I jump in, I wanted to pick your writers’ brains and see what you think. So let’s hear it, friends.

What do you all see as an editor’s job?

More than that, if you were to hire an editor, what would you want that person to do?