Every year people flock downtown with the same wonder and awe to see the river dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day here in Chicago. One day the river is a murky, dull flow, and the next it is a vibrant, eye-catching wonder. All thanks to a mysterious powder that they’ve tinkered with and specially formulated to transform the river into the city’s last winter decoration before the (hopefully soon!) show of spring.
While the metaphor won’t hold water if I take it too far, editing is a bit like that behind-the-scenes magic powder, transforming writing from dull to vibrant. Both processes require background knowledge and training to be able to study what’s there and to shape it into what it could be; there’s the same end goal of enhancing the piece and making it jump out to viewers. The origin of the dyeing ritual, according to NPR, was part of the city’s efforts to clean up the water by diagnosing the source of problems. Similarly, an editor helps the writer to spot any glaring or recurring issues in a text, allowing the piece of writing to emerge cleaner and ready for readers to enjoy.
The green dye is a temporary, unnatural-looking alteration to the river’s familiar color, and it will slowly fade as the month goes on. Meanwhile, an attentive edit enhances the natural beauty of what is already there and will still hold up in April, May, and beyond.
What kinds of editing can clean up your writing? Take a look at my Services page.
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