sasquatchmedia:

Great NYT article that captures fine editing: to be non-crazy yourself, to allow crazy occasionally from others, to stay out of the way. Mostly, to remember how thoroughly hard it can be to write well. Snippet from story below:

“To be an excellent editor, you have to be something of a psychiatrist,” said Michael Specter, a staff writer and an old friend. “He’s good at judging the emotional temperament of different writers and what brings out the best in them. With some people, like me, that’s maybe screaming.”

With story editing, said the editorial director, Henry Finder, Mr. Remnick often spots “reportorial weaknesses” or when a writer is using “potted history,” a clichéd take on a subject. But “if a piece comes in and it’s a successful piece, some editors like to basically spray ‘Kilroy was here’ on everything,” Mr. Finder said. “He doesn’t.”

Mr. Remnick says he does not like to get in the way of his writers and editors. “I don’t want to muddy the delicate relationship,” he says. But he is assiduous about sending thank-you notes to writers, “lovely thank-you notes,” Mr. Gladwell said, that make “you feel like you’re a part of something important.”

“I have to always remember, writing is really hard,” Mr. Remnick said. “I hope that I really respect that.”