One of the first conversations we have with too many clients is that they are apprehensive to hand their writing over to another absolutist who will strip their words. In the past, their editors would rigorously hack their work to pieces, barely leaving a semblance of the original author.
This works well in university writing labs and academic journal offices, but not so well for the conversational and personal nature of online publishing and content marketing.
The Editor’s Creed
When I created Craft Your Content, and began cultivating my our company philosophy, I wanted to make sure that my team felt the same way I did about our clients’ work. That we are here to help make great writing even better.
So I drafted this little memo to my team. An oath, of sorts, that they take (or more appropriately, read; I have not had anyone pledge via video Skype yet….but IDEAS!) when they join our team.
Click Image to Enlarge
Originally posted September 15, 2014. – Updated March 24, 2016
Elisa Doucette is a writer and editor who works with professional writers, entrepreneurs, and brands that want to make their own words even better. She is the Founder of Craft Your Content, and oversees Client Strategy and Writing Coaching. Her own writing has been featured in places like Forbes, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Yahoo! Small Business, and The Huffington Post, among others. She also hosts the Writers' Rough Drafts podcast here on CYC. When she isn't writing, editing, or reading words, she can usually be found at a local pub quiz, deep in a sun salutation, or binging TV shows for concept ideas and laughs.
[…] supposed to be there to guide the writer, not ghostwrite for them. Here at CYC, it goes against our Editor’s Creed to deliberately and knowingly strip an author’s voice and vision from their writing and replace […]
