Carver and Lish and More

January 7, 2010

Interesting piece in The Millions on the relationship between editor and writer, particularly between Lish and Carver.

I personally feel more writing would be great and not merely good today if editors were still as involved with the craft as they used to be. Some certainly are, but they seem few and far between. Editors, probably because they themselves must focus on the bottom line,  seem more interested in the finished product than in the raw talent behind it. They look for polish, not potential.  Not that there shouldn’t be both in a great piece of work–but how many editors these days are truly interested in making a masterpiece, as opposed to just moving product?

I don’t include indie press editors in this criticism, by the way. They’re a different breed. And one of my favorite things lately has been Dan Wickett over at Emerging Writers’ series on writers on working with editors.  Fascinating stuff.