Most movie buffs I know take pleasure in watching for any continuity error in the film. Often they are subtle errors that are picked up the more you watch a film. However, when they are in novels, the average person may not notice them.
The other night, I was reading The Gunslinger by Stephen King and came across one that caught me by surprise.
On the brief description of the book, a character is called “Alice,” and again on page 197, she is called “Alice;” however, in the rest of the book she is “Allie.”
For most people, it may not seem like much, but when there is almost weekly discussion on who is Ali or Allie in a group of friends with two Allisons (one Allison and the other is Alison). It kind of takes you by surprise.
The ability to communicate is a great skill which is often underappreciated by many people. Editors have to maintain excellent language skills to ensure that the information is not misinterpreted or misunderstood by the readers, but they must also ensure that they do not alienate the writers.
The ability to keep things organized can be extremely challenging especially when working with deadlines, large groups of people, and real life.
Editing is more than reading and finding errors in documents. A good editor must be able to observe a piece of writing from all perspectives.
