BORN EDITOR

TALK IS CHEAP, BUT IT CAN BE CORRECTED

My teachers had my best interests in mind in 1971 when they decided I ought to be a math teacher. They said I had the best grasp of math of anyone in our senior class.

The problem was that I hated math. I didn't want to get up in front of any kind of class, but certainly not a math class. Most importantly to me, I loved to write, and I was a natural editor. I'd open a book and immediately see mistakes. My motto could have been "I edit, therefore I am."

My teachers thought I wasn't a very good writer at the time, and they may have been right. They said I used too many big words, and they definitely were right there. (Quick story: A friend of mine told me I was bombastic. I had to look it up in the dictionary. It apparently means I use big words. Imagine that.)

I won the school's math award that year, and our valedictorian won the English award. She became a math teacher, and, well, I didn't. I became a career newspaperman.

I'd like to think I was born to be a writer and editor. I'm sorry, but I edit stuff. I edit phone books and road signs and business signs and cereal boxes. I edit e-mails and textbooks and even stories by William Faulkner. Great stories, but he needed an editor.

I wish I'd been around to help Faulkner.

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  TWITTER: EDITORatWORK

MORE BLOG ENTRIES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

ANECDOTES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer OUTTA there!

EDITOR@WORK BLOG ENTRIES

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing