On Valentines day, I thought I should write about love. Though I don’t like the extravagant, “in your face” kind of expression of this sublime emotion, I think there is a place for all things.  And there is also a manner in which one can, subtly display this. I  reserve this display for some people, and they know who they are.

But this short piece is about those who have impacted my writing in many beautiful ways : my editors. And I truly, dearly love them.

They have not only helped me see the written word in a different light, but also helped clarify my thoughts. Editing is an art – and I must confess, I am truly bad at it.

I am good at creating ideas, shaping them and bringing them to light. But it requires a special skill, a fine eye, to catch the word, which is out of place; to pull a sentence together in a manner which gives it a whole new meaning.

Alas, that is a talent that I sorely lack.

I feel like the bungling adventurer, the explorer, who goes out to explore new lands; although mine are in the realm of imagination – and does not care too much for giving his journey a precise trajectory. This is my problem.

On such endeavors, one needs a good navigator, so one does not get lost. My editors have played that role, over the years.

I also came across this quote by Gertrude Stein, which sums up my argument . She explains, why she doesnt employ punctuation that carves reality into manageable units of organized thought :

When I first began writing I felt that writing should go on I still do feel that it should go on but when I first began writing I was completely possessed by the necessity that writing should go on and if writing should go on what had colons and semi-colons to do with it, what had commas to do with it what had periods to do with it what had small letters and capitals to do with it to do writing going on which was at the time the most profound need I had in connection with writing. ( Lectures in America, 1935).

Well, I guess Stein could get away with a lot, and I need to acquire some respectability before I could attempt anything close to that.

Until then, I shall love my editors.

This post is dedicated to you.