The art of editing is observing someone's creation, whether it be an article or story or research paper, finding the essential grains of his ideas, and arranging the words around it so that these ideas can shine clearly and brightly.Your job isn't to create new ideas, but to mold existing ideas, to make them as presentable and appealing as possible.
I used to want to be an editor. In fact, I vividly remember coming home one day when I was in second grade and telling my mom that when I grow up, I wanted to be the head of a publishing company. This seems like a pretty random dream for a seven-year-old...I think what happened was that I opened one of my books to the page that has all the copyright information, found the "c" with a circle around it to be very impressive and official-looking, and decided that being an author might be too much work, but being the person who publishes the author's book sounded fun. My mom got all excited and found me a writing tutor (who incidentally became one of my closest adult friends to this day). The editor dream didn't pan out, but throughout high school, I edited friends' papers for school, practice essays for SAT's, and application essays for college. Even now as a music student, I help out various faithful friends with their med school or grad school applications. Doing a successful edit gives me a tingle and rush, the same feeling I get when playing a fifth on the violin in tune so it rings, or getting full scores on consecutive rounds of Text Twist.
I realized today that editing actually resembles the aspects of music that I love the most. If you know me well, you'll know that I LOVE playing second violin in quartets. I don't know when this began, but it certainly wasn't (and isn't) because the second violin part is "easier." It's because often times, the second violin's job is to make the first violin sound good. It's actually quite a difficult task, because you have to match the first violinist, whoever he/she is, whatever kind of a person he/she is, and whatever types of tendencies he/she has, regardless of your own tendencies and style. You have to be a chameleon, and you have to be more interested in everyone else's parts as a whole than in your own part. The worst second violinists are the ones that are always looking for spots where they can shine. (On the other hand, the second-worst second violinists are the ones that are scared of the spots they're supposed to shine.) You have to be a chameleon in that you are good at supporting the players around you, but when the time comes to step up and carry the melody, you do it effortlessly and with ample presence. Most of my favorite chamber music (and music in general) moments have been playing second violin. It's my niche, where I feel confident I can do a satisfactory job.
If you know me well, you'll also know that I love playing in orchestra, maybe more than any other musical activity...but I do NOT like being the leader. I either like being in the last stand or being in a secondary role, like second chair or principal second. Being concertmaster is okay, as long as there is a conductor. (Last year when I was in a conductor-less ensemble, I absolutely hated being concertmaster...it was like being conductor, and that is the last thing I want or could do.) Some musicians find being in an orchestra constraining, because very rarely do you get the license to express your own personal interpretation. Most of the time, you're expressing whatever ideas the conductor has. Your job is to make his/her vision come true, rather than your own. I can see how this may be frustrating for some, but usually, I love it. I love the task of interpreting someone else's idea and finding a way to communicate it effectively to an audience. In a way, playing second violin, playing in orchestra, and playing music in general is like editing. You take someone else's idea, whether it's a writer or a composer or a conductor or a fellow colleague, and you see the good in it...you see the brilliance and originality and reason behind it, and you understand/respect it. Then, you use your own resources and inject your own personality, not in making it your own, but in translating it to a broader audience. It's a tough job--if done well, you might not get the credit, and if done badly, you may often get the blame. But the world needs editors, messengers, liaisons, translators...because, as great as it is to have geniuses with revolutionary ideas, they can't do it on their own. Most of the time, ideas need a push in the right direction, molding by the right hands into something accessible and beautiful and admirable.
I'm not a creative person...I don't usually come up with great ideas, but I can happily make someone else's great ideas even greater. :)
