By Jack Limpert
One of my aha moments in editing came while watching 0ur 13-year-old daughter, Jeannie, get a golf lesson from Bill Strausbaugh, one of the game’s great teachers.
At her first lesson, Strausbaugh told her to hit some balls and we sat watching. After about 10 minutes, he said, “I know what she’s doing wrong,” and walked over to her.
Everything he said to her was positive: “You’ve got a great natural swing. Here’s a way to make it more consistent.” After she hit more balls, he said, “You’re looking really good. Here’s something else you can work on.”
My experience has been that a good editor encourages writers pretty much the way Strausbaugh helped Jeannie get better at golf: This is good story—here’s how we can make it better.
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