10 Things Every Writer and Editor Does
But pretends they don’t
Yes, it’s true. As a writer and editor myself, there are certain things all of us writers/editors do, but for some reason, we want to keep it a secret. Or at least pretend that we didn’t do it.
Writers and editors may appear to be normal humans, but our brains are always in edit mode. If there is a sentence, we will pick it apart.
If there is a typo, we will catch it.
If there is an Oxford comma argument, we will fight for our team.
I took out 10 of those things, and I’m writing them down here to see if there’s anyone else like me here! haha!
But mind you, these are only 10 of those things. There’s many more.
If you are also a writer and editor, you can add more things in the comments.
So, starting…
- We Judge You for Your Typos (Yes, Even That One)
“Your welcome”? “I did created this”? We saw that. We wish we hadn’t, but we did. And now we’re questioning all of your life choices.
2. We Can’t Ignore a Bad Signboard
Nothing ruins a perfectly good walk like spotting a sign that says, “Fresh vegetable’s available.” The misplaced apostrophe will haunt us for days.
3. We Hoard Notebooks We Never Use
We own 17 gorgeous notebooks. We write in precisely none of them. Yet, purchasing another one is somehow requisite for artistic inspiration.
4. We Spend 20 Minutes on One Sentence
“Should I say ‘annoying’ or ‘infuriating’?” “Perhaps reword the entire thing?” “No, let’s simply delete it and begin anew.” Writing is merely overthinking with additional steps.
5. We Edit Everything, Even WhatsApp Messages
Typed a message and realized we made an error? We will erase and rewrite it all since our credibility is at stake. (I really do this for every single text, for my satisfaction.)
6. We Get Distracted by ‘Research’
Looking up a quick fact for an article? Next thing we know, we’re learning about how medieval monks created ink.
It’s not procrastinating; it’s broadening our knowledge.
7. We Secretly Love Grammar Fights
Oxford comma, double spacing after a period, passive voice, we act like these are trivial arguments, but in the back of our heads, this is our equivalent of a street fight.
8. We Talk to Ourself When We Write
Mumbling dialogue, reading aloud for “flow,” making weird faces to react to a character’s emotion, it’s all part of the process. Totally normal.
9. We Have a Thing About Fonts
Send us something in Comic Sans, and we’ll judge you. Send it in Papyrus, and we’ll block you.
10. We Rewrite Sentences in Our Heads. Constantly
That email we sent three days ago? Still thinking about how we could’ve written it differently.
Last year’s conversations? Editing them in our heads right now. And regretting that “I should’ve written it that way.”
Writers and editors don’t only write. We edit the whole world in our heads, line by line, typo by typo.
And we are not even ashamed of it 😉