Several years ago, my best friend was diagnosed with a pituitary tumor; benign, but still a tumor. And just to clarify, yes, that's a brain tumor.
The pituitary gland is the gland when it comes to the endocrine system; it's the Boss gland, telling all the other glands what to do regarding growth, sexual development, metabolism, and the reproductive system. All that power and control stuffed into a gland the size of a pea.
The pituitary gland is the gland when it comes to the endocrine system; it's the Boss gland, telling all the other glands what to do regarding growth, sexual development, metabolism, and the reproductive system. All that power and control stuffed into a gland the size of a pea.
Anyway. The endocrine system releases all these hormones, to control all these systems, directly into the blood stream. As you can imagine, when something isn't right with the Boss gland, all hell breaks lose--not enough of this hormone, too much of that hormone; oh hey, we're just not going to make any more of this other hormone--and dumps straight into the blood stream. Leaving my best friend with all sorts of side effects from the Boss being out of line, combined with a hereditary struggle with high blood pressure.
Because of all this havoc being wreaked, she spent a lot of time getting poked and prodded by various doctors, as they tried to figure out what was wrong and determine the best course of treatment. And I mean A LOT. Then, once she finally had the surgery to remove the tumor, she developed complications and landed back in the hospital, flat on her back, for three days. Still getting poked and prodded.
The whole ordeal occurred over the course of three years, and somewhere along the road, my best friend developed what's known as White Coat Syndrome. The anxiety of having to see one more doctor built to the level that just the thought of seeing a doctor's coat makes her blood pressure spike.
Here's my question...would it make a difference if the coat was a different color?
Because of all this havoc being wreaked, she spent a lot of time getting poked and prodded by various doctors, as they tried to figure out what was wrong and determine the best course of treatment. And I mean A LOT. Then, once she finally had the surgery to remove the tumor, she developed complications and landed back in the hospital, flat on her back, for three days. Still getting poked and prodded.
The whole ordeal occurred over the course of three years, and somewhere along the road, my best friend developed what's known as White Coat Syndrome. The anxiety of having to see one more doctor built to the level that just the thought of seeing a doctor's coat makes her blood pressure spike.
Here's my question...would it make a difference if the coat was a different color?
In just about every aspect of life, red is bad. In accounting, red is literally negative. We stop at red lights; stop signs are red. Criminals are caught red-handed. So I guess it was a natural progression to use a red pen to correct stuff. Probably every single teacher I had in school had a red pen for the sole purpose of grading assignments. Hell, my sister (a middle school art teacher), and her boyfriend (a high school chemistry teacher) use red pens to grade their students work; assignments that aren't even writing related.
Be it a book, a research paper, or a memoir, I think the use of red in editing has created a negative stigma when it comes to writing. We've all developed RED Pen Syndrome.
But who says editing has to be done in red? And while we're at it, who says editing has to be a bad thing? Why do we fear the part of the process that is meant to make our writing better? I'm just as guilty in my writing. I loathe rewrites. I cannot stand for someone to tell me I'm wrong. Even if I really was wrong. It drives me nuts. I start thinking I'm not good enough to show off my writing, even though I know that couldn't be further from the truth. I know I'm a good writer. I'll even be so bold and say I'm a damn good writer. So why do I start second guessing myself when someone is just trying to help me be better? That makes no sense at all. RED Pen Syndrome.
I'll admit, I've fed this crazy notion as an editor. I was lazy. I let MS Word determine the color of Track Changes for me. I'm a little ashamed to admit, I didn't even know the color could be anything other than red. Not until I started having problems with my laptop and changed computers, and the bubbles were suddenly blue. It wasn't until I went into the settings to figure out why the bubbles changed that I learned I could choose from a number of colors. But again, I was lazy. I said, "Meh, everyone is used to seeing the red bubbles anyway, I'll just leave it at the default." I fueled the RED Pen Syndrome.
I may as well have walked up to my best friend in a white doctor's coat just because I could.
Again, I ask, why?
Why do we let things stay the same, simply because that's the way it's always been?
When I decided to make editing books a business and created word·play, I decided I would be different. I decided I wasn't going to be a knuckle slapper. I decided I didn't want to tell an author how bad the writing was, or berate her for making so many mistakes. I decided I wanted to be more than just an editor. I decided I was going to empower my authors; to help them become better writers.
Well, this week, I realized I had a fundamental flaw in my editing practices. How can I help an author be better if I continue to make all my edits and suggestions in red? I know this may seem like a really stupid, small thing to go on and on about, but I know, for a fact, at least two of my authors are terrified of getting their manuscripts back from me. I've actually heard "I'm scared of the red."
Well...I'm going to turn this little world I've jumped into on it's ear.
Starting right now--I've already made the switch in the master settings--I will never use RED Track Changes again.
From now on, my authors will be seeing GREEN.
Why GREEN?
Well, GREEN means GO. GREEN is growth. GREEN is also my favorite color, but I swear that had little to do with it. GREEN is going to help my authors be better.
I'll let you in on a little secret. You aren't expected to be perfect the first time. Not even the second, or the third. Your job is to tell the story. It's my job to polish it up, to help work out the pacing or flow issues. It's my job to know whether you need a comma or a semi colon, not yours.
GREEN is going to change the editing part of the writing process from a negative, hated thing to a positive learning experience.
GREEN is going to help you, the author, start your next book as a better writer than you were when you started your last book.
GREEN is going to give you your best story yet.
Be it a book, a research paper, or a memoir, I think the use of red in editing has created a negative stigma when it comes to writing. We've all developed RED Pen Syndrome.
But who says editing has to be done in red? And while we're at it, who says editing has to be a bad thing? Why do we fear the part of the process that is meant to make our writing better? I'm just as guilty in my writing. I loathe rewrites. I cannot stand for someone to tell me I'm wrong. Even if I really was wrong. It drives me nuts. I start thinking I'm not good enough to show off my writing, even though I know that couldn't be further from the truth. I know I'm a good writer. I'll even be so bold and say I'm a damn good writer. So why do I start second guessing myself when someone is just trying to help me be better? That makes no sense at all. RED Pen Syndrome.
I'll admit, I've fed this crazy notion as an editor. I was lazy. I let MS Word determine the color of Track Changes for me. I'm a little ashamed to admit, I didn't even know the color could be anything other than red. Not until I started having problems with my laptop and changed computers, and the bubbles were suddenly blue. It wasn't until I went into the settings to figure out why the bubbles changed that I learned I could choose from a number of colors. But again, I was lazy. I said, "Meh, everyone is used to seeing the red bubbles anyway, I'll just leave it at the default." I fueled the RED Pen Syndrome.
I may as well have walked up to my best friend in a white doctor's coat just because I could.
Again, I ask, why?
Why do we let things stay the same, simply because that's the way it's always been?
When I decided to make editing books a business and created word·play, I decided I would be different. I decided I wasn't going to be a knuckle slapper. I decided I didn't want to tell an author how bad the writing was, or berate her for making so many mistakes. I decided I wanted to be more than just an editor. I decided I was going to empower my authors; to help them become better writers.
Well, this week, I realized I had a fundamental flaw in my editing practices. How can I help an author be better if I continue to make all my edits and suggestions in red? I know this may seem like a really stupid, small thing to go on and on about, but I know, for a fact, at least two of my authors are terrified of getting their manuscripts back from me. I've actually heard "I'm scared of the red."
Well...I'm going to turn this little world I've jumped into on it's ear.
Starting right now--I've already made the switch in the master settings--I will never use RED Track Changes again.
From now on, my authors will be seeing GREEN.
Why GREEN?
Well, GREEN means GO. GREEN is growth. GREEN is also my favorite color, but I swear that had little to do with it. GREEN is going to help my authors be better.
I'll let you in on a little secret. You aren't expected to be perfect the first time. Not even the second, or the third. Your job is to tell the story. It's my job to polish it up, to help work out the pacing or flow issues. It's my job to know whether you need a comma or a semi colon, not yours.
GREEN is going to change the editing part of the writing process from a negative, hated thing to a positive learning experience.
GREEN is going to help you, the author, start your next book as a better writer than you were when you started your last book.
GREEN is going to give you your best story yet.