Article by Suzanne G. Fox
I’m an editor and publications production manager of longstanding, and I’m also a rabid fan of the Professional Bull Riders. There’s nothing I like more than parking my fanny before the television or on the bleachers and watching the boys and the bulls slug it out. This puzzles people who think editors are uptight characters who never turn loose of their dictionaries, but editing and riding bulls have a lot of similarities. Here are just a few:
1) In both editing and bull riding, you work in tight quarters with another individual who may turn out to be a sweetheart or may decide to stomp your guts out.
The bucking chute is a physical space, and the arena in which editor and writer work is a psychic space, but riders and bulls, and editors and writers, are pretty much on top of one another when they’re trying to get their work done. And in both cases, all participants are trying to get inside one another’s heads. The possibilities for stirring up trouble are endless. Some writers are easygoing and appreciative of editors’ suggestions, and some bulls just want to have their heads scratched when the ride is over, but both writers and bulls have sensitivities that astute people acknowledge and try to work with-or around. An insensitive editor (and there are some, unfortunately) may not break any bones, but broken and bruised egos go with the territory.
2) You have limited time to do your work, which never seems very long when you start, but it may end up feeling like an eternity.
All publishing projects have deadlines, and the deadlines always come too soon, but at least once in the process, an editor will wish it was all over. Right now. When a bull rider climbs atop a bull and nods his head to the gateman, that eight seconds may not seem like much, but sometimes it seems like forever before the buzzer sounds.
3) At some point, you will probably be covered with dust, or worse.
It’s a given that clouds of dust, clods of dirt, bull snot, and bullshit fly through the air when the gate swings open, and if dust is the worst you get hit with, you count yourself fortunate. Recently a ranked rider got thrown back into the chutes and emerged with a big bull pie stuck to his helmet. Editors generally don’t have to worry about that, but they will always find themselves buried beneath big piles of paper, and sometimes they get pelted with panicked messages or even profanity as the deadline looms. It’s all in a day’s work.
4) Technology helps, but in the end, it’s talent and training that make the difference.
Bull riding doesn’t require a lot of fancy equipment-a rider could probably get by with just a bull rope, a cowboy hat, and a set of spurs, and no amount of fiddling with these basics seems to make much difference in his performance. The great “Razor” Jim Sharp didn’t even wear chaps-he always rode in blue jeans. Likewise in editing-fast computers and access to the Chicago Manual of Style online may save some time, but in the end, it’s what you’ve learned and how you practice it, plus your innate command of the language, that determine your success.
5) When the ride is over, all parties go their separate ways and may never see each other again. Which can be a good thing.
In more than 20 years in this profession, I have only sworn twice never to work with an individual again, but it’s also not uncommon to have a wonderful experience working with a writer and then lose touch forever. As in bull riding, it’s the luck of the draw.
6) A perfect ride and good editing both look effortless.
When everything is right, a bull rider’s chin is tucked, his toes are turned out, and he stays over the center of the bull, rising when the animal jumps and settling back in exactly the same spot, free arm lifted in rhythm with the dance. A great ride is more than the sum of its participants. A good editor works the same way-s/he can make a good writer look great, a less talented writer look competent, and help a great writer become immortal. Good editing is seamless, invisible, and it always helps a writer sound exactly like him/herself-only more so.
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Suzanne G. Fox is president of Red Bird Publishing, an editorial and production service in Bozeman, MT. Her blog on professional bull riding can be found at http://turnhimout.blogspot.com.
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