Hi, Eduardo,
Hmmmm ... I would have said that we edit the content and design our
communication. Editorial work is one aspect of information design.
Information design involves more than the choice of type or page layout. It
also involves text, formatting, and it often involves the choice of what we
include.
There is a simple definition of the verb "to edit." As used here,
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines the verb edit as: "1 a : to
prepare (as literary material) for publication or public presentation b : to
assemble (as a moving picture or tape recording) by cutting and rearranging
c : to alter, adapt, or refine especially to bring about conformity to a
standard or to suit a particular purpose <carefully edited the speech>."
This is an appropriate definition, since Merriam-Webster's is the preferred
desk dictionary of professional editors at leading publishing houses and
academic journals. (Scholars also frequent the Oxford English Dictionary,
but most OED definitions are far too detailed to be useful for simple
applications. Editors use it, but Merriam-Webster's is the one that most
keep ready to hand.)
There is an overlap between editorial work and designerly work in all three
aspects of the Merriam-Webster's definition. The first two aspects have to
do with preparation and formatting. The last aspect has to do with Simon's
definition of design as planning something for a preferred state in contrast
to a less preferred prior state.
Editing also crosses over into sin and suffering:
"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine."
-- 2 Timothy 4:2
Salvation waits for those who edit.
Warm wishes,
Ken
p.s. I won't make my warm wish too warm, though. Let's hope for better
things. On the other hand, that great writer and editor Mark Twain noted
that he'd choose Heaven for the climate and Hell for the conversation. Twain
was also a designer -- he designed one of the earliest mechanical
typewriters. Not much of a businessman, though. He went bankrupt and had to
go back to writing.
--
On Mon, 7 Jul 2008 16:48:23 +0100, Eduardo Corte Real
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
--snip--
>You are absolutely right about your request, but we are dealing with editing
>and not with designing posts.
>
>Does anyone have a simple definition of Editing?
--snip--
>[Considerations about sin, suffering, hope and the true way]
--snip--
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