The Red Pen

/ roughwighting

Red pen Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay JOB DESCRIPTION: Medical Editor. Graduate degree preferred with a scientific/medical background as well as English graduate-level aptitude in writing. Copyedit and proof medical tomes of fascinating surgical procedures accompanied by long-winded indecipherable descriptions of intricate invasive operating techniques. Speed and precision are a must. Salary depends on expertise and experience. 

I’ve got five glorious hours ahead of me this morning to edit an upcoming book tentatively entitled Core Topics in General and Emergency Surgery. I met the author/surgeon at the publisher’s office six months ago, when the doctor signed the contract and insisted on meeting the editor. Me. ChatGPT

Oh, what an “honor” to meet such an important man. 

I had begun my position at Black Publishers when I was 25, newly out of graduate school, and having no idea what I’d do with a Master’s in English. The job as “medical editor” kind of fell in my lap. I saw the classified ad, drove the 30 minutes from my home to the flat-roofed meandering building in a tiny southern New Jersey town, interviewed with the publisher, his wife, and the Editing Director, and was offered the job within 45 minutes.

Later I realized that the publisher was desperate to get someone, anyone, willing to deal with the big-headed doctors who wrote with zeal for their subject and an absolute lack of any writing prowess.

But now here I was, three years later, with a baby at home. I tried to quit a month before she was born, but Black Inc begged me to continue. I could work from home. They’d pay me double. Please, please, I was too good to leave the job. No one else could do it.

Ha. No one else could handle these doctors. I knew that. But I also liked working while my tiny daughter slept. I liked making money, and I liked being appreciated.

ChatGPTBut mostly, I loved these doctors who blustered at every red line I placed across the pages of their manuscripts. I smiled when they called me on the phone, disdainful, asking me how I dare shorten their 1½-page-sentence; “it’s long because it’s important and full of material you couldn’t possibly understand.”

Yes, the red pen became my friend. And their enemy. And yet, I was the one with power, because the publisher would only accept my edited work; otherwise, the doctors’ contracts were void and their work would not be published.

So here I was, the baby down for her morning nap, and I’m crossing out one word, exhaling, then one entire line: ChatGPT

“Cryptococcosis is unique among opportunistic fungal infections because it is the only disease that can occur in normal individuals. The common practice of misdiagnosing this disease clinically should be abandoned. Although there have been several published reports of such infections, all were fatal. So let it be known that the interdependence of anatomic systems, symbolic activity, and the external social and physical environment entails a holistic orientation and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration.”

Sighing with pleasure, I re-write the entire paragraph. Ah, another wonderful red-pen day. 

Red pen Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay

One of my first “writing/editing” jobs. How about you? Do you have fond memories of one of your early jobs?

 

51 thoughts on “The Red Pen”

  1. I wonder if Black Publishers rhymes with a real-life place in S. Jersey? 😉 I had a friend who worked there.

    Red pencils–and phone calls–are things from the past in publishing. Well, maybe “important doctors” get phone calls. I follow a doctor on Substack who is a very good writer.

    I just retired from the test-writing job I’ve done from home for a long-time.

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  6. I did one editing job and it was for a friend. I found myself running out of red ink and revamping most everything. I handed the book back without finishing and suggested she start over. Never again. You are a brave soul. With writing comes larger than life egos.

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    • I hope to never leave the blogosphere. “You can check out any time you like
      But you can never leave.” 🙂 I’m posting less often cause of, um, “life.” I’m so glad you’re happy that I’m still here! Thank you. ❤

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  8. I enjoyed reading this as I never knew about this early career move. It sounded like a stressful job to me. I simply taught elementary children but I loved it!!!

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  9. A good editor usually shortens the text by at least a third. As an author, I can forget about an editor who doesn’t use a lot of red ink. As an editor, I usually delete a lot to make a text easier to read.
    Wishing you a happy weekend
    The Fab Four of Cley
    🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

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    • Ha. I think I edited it down to seven words. 🙂 🙂 🙂 I loved the idea that the disease could only occur in “normal individuals.” I wonder why it didn’t occur in abnormal people?

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  11. A red pen, in good hands, can turn an OK manuscript into a great one! Love this. My early jobs were in retail and you can learn a lot about people in those jobs! (great material for a future writer)

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  17. Thanks for sharing your early work life, Pamela. My early job was not that exciting. I represented Proctor and Gamble and went from store to store ensuring that the products were given the appropriate shelf space and positioning. My biggest claim to fame was building the world’s largest Pampers disposable diaper display. I also got chewed out by my boss for draining the entire Pamper inventory for his district. No good deed went unpunished.

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    • Oh wow, John. You know the old expression “you can’t make this stuff up,” and “truth is stranger than fiction.” You’ve succeeded in both. What a great (true) story. Can’t you make a novel out of this? A shopper is hit by hundreds of Pamper boxes that fall from the “world’s largest disposable diaper display” and sues the store, which points fingers at the brilliant person who created the display, who then hires the best lawyer in the country, who gives a rather poopy defense, but it works at the end of the book. 🙂

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  18. As you well know, just because you’re a brilliant doctor doesn’t mean you’re a brilliant writer. I’m sure your red pen knocked down a few egos a peg or two. I imagine the material you edited was rather dense.

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    • The material didn’t have to be as dense as the doctors/writers wrote it, so they weren’t happy with the editor (me) who made their work more readable, accessible, and understandable. I laugh at the manuals that come with most anything now, realizing that companies do NOT hire an editor and perhaps they want the instructions to be completely unreadable. 🙂

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