Top 10 Reasons Why Editing Is COOL!

This list is compiled by Jane Harrigan of the University of New Hampshire. You can click above for a link to ACES, The American Copy Editors Society (a.k.a. The Group for People as Anal Retentive As Yourself).

Now, without further ado:

Top Ten Reasons Why Editing Is COOL!
Compiled by Jane Harrigan, University of New Hampshire

(10) It's like solving a puzzle.

(9) You find a whole world of other people who go crazy over the"10 items or less" sign in the grocery store. (Or, as one new editor put it, "I can constructively satisfy my obsessive-compulsive anal-retentive tendencies and get paid for it.")

(8) Your job changes constantly; you're never bored.

(7) You become a more interesting person. You can talk about Arafat, Albright, Agassi or Aguilera and sound like you know what you're talking about -- because you do.

(6) You have responsibility and power. You decide how readers will perceive the news, how they'll perceive the world.

(5) Catching a dumb mistake before readers see it is a rush. Helping someone make a story better is the best drug there is. (Or, as one person wrote, "It's a close as an English major can come to being a doctor, or God.")

(4) Newspapers never ask writers to edit, but they love it if editors write.

(3) You could be the world's best quiz show contestant because you're a dictionary of useless information.

(2) You can move anywhere and find a job.

(1) You never have to wear decent clothes.