One of the drawbacks to being an editor becomes apparent with much reading. Some people have writing skills. Others don’t. That’s no reflection on intelligence, insight, or even brilliance. Good writing is part talent and part hard work. The drawback is when someone thinks they’ve got what it takes, but they don’t. I’m a gentle guy. I don’t like to hurt feelings and yet I have a job to do. You see, good writing involves a few things—writing for your readership, being aware of what that readership likes, and giving new information without being all technical about it. I’ve read academics who write very high-level monographs, sprinkled with “wells” and “you sees,” which come off like a guy my age trying to impress a twenty-year old by being groovy. Just admit you’re writing for other scholars and get down to it.
Then there’s the verbless sentence. You know what I mean—a literary rim-shot, usually at the end of a paragraph, to heighten the drama. Solid technique. This only works, however, if you don’t overuse it. I’ve read books where nearly every paragraph ends with such rim-shots. Then the author started writing one-liner paragraphs. This isn’t a Saturday Night Live cold opening. The writing has to have a certain amount of gravitas. Especially if you’re wanting to publish with a university press. I realize that the dream of many academics is to write for a wider readership, but honesty is still a virtue. When I wrote Weathering the Psalms I pitched it as for general readers. Ha! Not even specialized readers have found it that engaging. It was a book for specialists. I see that now.
Don’t get me wrong—I read plenty of good writing. Some of it’s even beautiful. Editors, however, have to read an awful lot to be able to pick out the gems. I remember my volunteer experience on the archaeological dig at Tel Dor. At the pottery reading sessions, a specialist would quickly sort through a box of four-thousand year-old fragments and say within seconds if there was anything interesting (“indicative” was the term she used) or not. She did this by reading pottery like an editor reads proposals and manuscripts. You get to a point when you can just tell. Writing well can be learned. Some people have an innate talent for it. Being a gentle guy, it’s hard to be honest sometimes. I have to keep reminding myself, however, that it’s still a virtue.