Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Consider the Editor
One of the many things I enjoyed about "Consider the Lobster" was imagining the look on the Gourmet editor's face when, having commissioned a report on a food festival for a food magazine, she got so much more. I found a brief interview with the editor about her experience editing and publishing the piece, and Gourmet readers' reactions to it.
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Thanks to Nora for finding and posting this interview. Ruth Reichl was a great editor, and under her direction Gourmet became much more than a tediously predictable food/travel magazine for rich people. Most editors will not run pieces that challenge their narrow, preconceived notions of what the magazine is about.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was an editor myself, I occasionally worked with writers who "challenged every comma," as Wallace did with Reichl. They're an enormous pain in the ass, frankly, driven by egos the size of Jupiter. Don't be one of those. Pick your battles intelligently. Challenge changes that introduce inaccuracy, or do substantial damage to your voice or point of view. Let the rest go. You'll live a happier life and get more assignments.