Emotionally Intelligent Editors
There is a plethora of courses, books, websites and blogs to help an editor become proficient in the technical skills of story arcs, sentence structure, grammar, punctuation and the like. Availing yourself of these will support your editorial process. However, the one ability that cannot be found in any of these resources and is, in my opinion, the most crucial for a successful editorial experience is emotional intelligence.
A focus of psychological research in recent years, emotional intelligence is the capacity to be cognisant of, regulate, and express one’s own emotions; to monitor the emotions of others; to differentiate and label each emotion; and to conduct interpersonal relationships with empathy using emotional information to guide thoughts and behaviour.
Achieving effective social interactions is a cornerstone of emotional intelligence, and the most important attribute people with high emotional intelligence possess is empathy. There are three forms of empathy: cognitive empathy—understanding someone’s perspective; social empathy—creating rapport with another person by paying full attention to them; and empathic concern—wanting to help and support someone else.
Combing all three gives the most complete empathic response. You don’t have to have had personal experience with a circumstance to be empathic; you just need the ability to comprehend and anticipate the circumstance and the corresponding emotions and feelings the circumstance would evoke.
I was alerted to the importance of empathy for editors when I undertook a recent editorial project at RMIT University. Student editors where paired with student photographers who were creating a photobook on a subject of their choice. I had the pleasure of working with Jade Saad on her photobook called Six—about her sister’s sixth year of life. This book was a very intimate and personal reflection for Jade on the current life of a sister who came close to not being born.
During the time I was involved in the project, my responsibilities included a substantial structural edit and the copyedit of her book. I’ve already established that effective copyediting can be supported by a variety of resources, but the appropriate handling of a structural edit is a different matter. Finding the story and creating a narrative arc within a set of beautiful photographs was a new and daunting challenge for me, one I thought would not be my strength.
Hearing Jade’s concerns regarding her photobook’s lack of story flow and watching her non-verbal cues of uncertainty during our second face-to-face meeting afforded me the opportunity to offer helpful suggestions for a possible narrative arc. I realised that certain photographs could be grouped together, and the use of section headings would help to guide the reader through the book.
Over the next couple of days, I poured over the photographs, rearranging them into several piles, and made notes of suggested headings for each section. When I was satisfied that no other alternatives were available, I offered my top three section groupings via email, for Jade’s review. I ensured that my wording was respectful and clear, so Jade was aware that she did not have to accept anything I suggested if she didn’t like it or if she had come up with an alternative idea.
This was well-invested time; Jade chose the second option I put forward and in doing so thanked me for seeing what she could not—her photobook’s story. Supportive early exchanges during the structural edit had built trust between us—Jade retained control of her idea and knew I had no intention of hijacking her project. So, what had I done?
At our face-to-face meeting I was fully present and attentive to Jade’s verbal and non-verbal cues. I met her where she was and didn’t try to drag her to where I thought she should be. I used active listening skills, open body language, maintained good eye contact and asked open-ended questions. In all our online correspondence I used clear and considerate language, always acknowledging Jade had options, and gave her permission to disagree with me.
Editors who have high emotional intelligence foster trusting, cooperative relationships and this, in turn, produces more innovative productivity, effective teamwork, greater problem-solving capacity, resilience in the face of setbacks, loyalty and repeat business. Maybe it was a subconscious decision or maybe it was because I am a writer who has been edited that led me to communicate with empathy. I understood Jade’s confusion regarding story and I knew how it felt to hand your project to another for their analysis.
The nature of editing requires us to move through the worlds of our creators and think in their voice. We must also sit in the heads of the reader to anticipate all their questions and confusion. Then using sound reasoning, respectful language and diplomacy, we must provide clear, problem-solving ideas that will add depth to and strengthen the creator’s work.
Ego, in all its forms, needs to be taken out of the equation. The project is the creator’s not the editor’s, and our role is to support and advise, not take over and dictate. No one cares how the editor would write or design the project. The central role is that of the creator, and the editor is there to enhance the creator’s vision.
So, the next time you are about to tackle a new editorial project, sit back and ask yourself how empathy could best serve your relationship with the creator. Because developing emotional intelligence helps us to better serve and support the creators with whom we work. Building rapport doesn’t have to be hard work when empathy is part of our communication arsenal. We can bring joy to a creator’s life by helping them produce the strongest version of their idea and that will lead to increased joy, through work satisfaction, in our own lives.
I would like to thank Jade for allowing me to collaborate on her project and for providing the photographs for this article, and to congratulate her for creating such a moving book.
