The Editor is a Companion to the Author’s Thought, Not Against It

According to IBNA (Iran’s Book News Agency) correspondent in Arak, Shah Hosseini, at this meeting, emphasized the importance of editing in the writing process, stating: “Editing is a stage of writing that determines the fate of the text. Just as a jewel gains luster after cutting, a text gains new life through editing.”

She added: “The editor does not stand against the author but helps them to convey the concept and message of the work correctly to the audience. Many valuable writings have failed to convey the author’s message due to linguistic or structural disorder, and the editor’s task is to remove these ambiguities.”

This university professor, referring to three types of editing, said: “Technical editing includes punctuation, paragraphing, and spelling; structural editing deals with the correct arrangement of sentence components and text fluency; and linguistic editing oversees consistency in spelling and writing.”

She emphasized: “I do not accept content editing, because an editor has no right to interfere with the author’s thoughts. Fidelity to the text is the primary ethical principle of any editor.”

Shah Hosseini, in another part of her speech, referring to the expansion of artificial intelligence in the field of writing, clarified: “Machine editing can never replace the precision and subtlety of a human editor. An editor must understand the spirit of the words; a task that artificial intelligence cannot accomplish.”

She concluded by describing editing not merely as a technical skill but as a way of looking at things, stating: “Editing teaches us to write more precisely and speak more responsibly. The more coherent and error-free a text is, the greater the artistic and academic credibility of the work will be.”