Whatever Happened to Editting?
I first
encountered the work of Johnny R. Call, creator of Star Trek
: Liberator, while surfing the net for some fan fiction that
might be to my liking.
I took a
cursory look at his front page, and didn't notice any glaring errors in either
spelling or syntax. I was astonished, and in a small corner of my mind allowed
that his site might be different from the dozens of others I'd already visited.
"Maybe this
guy has it together," I hoped.
Thus I forged
ahead with his first story, the novella "Reunions and Revelations."
I contacted him
by email soon afterward, and our subsequent relationship is solely the result
of both his graciousness and his ability to determine the true intentions of a
person who has his picture next to the word "abrasive" in Webster's.
I wrote
something to the effect of, "Your site is absolutely beautiful in terms of
graphics and presentation. As far as your fiction, though..." and here's
where you can see I'm not exactly the most tactful fellow out there,
"...it makes my eyes bleed."
Well, Johnny
responded politely enough, and we got to discussing our mutual dissatisfaction
with the direction and quality of the "Star Trek Franchise"
(there's that horrible phrase again).
Over time, I
realized that he was an excellent example of an aspiring writer: He had a
wonderful imagination, and, at times, an excellent turn of phrase; however, his
proofreading skills were only a notch above nonexistent.
Granted, we all
have our gifts, and they're as varied as we are. I'm fortunate enough to
combine an eye for detail (read that, “I’m so anal I should have been in porn”)
with writing talent into a natural editorial ability.
Herein lies my problem.
Serious Star
Trek fans are invariably quite intelligent. Building a site devoted to Trek
is an endeavor requiring determination, focus, imagination and a host of other
positive qualities. Why is it, then, that the most important... and allow me to
emphasize... the single most
important... element of a site featuring fan fiction—that is, the actual
fiction—is usually unimaginative, choppy, and, most incomprehensible of
all to me, not even proofread?
Obviously even
skilled editors make mistakes and oversights; one can open any daily newspaper
and find one or two errors on each page. However, there comes a point at which
spelling miscue upon punctuation screw-up upon improper use of words becomes
intolerable—at least for those of us who still claim to be literate.
Yet many of
these sites (which shall remain nameless) win awards for excellence on a
regular basis. Who the hell is checking the fiction before handing out
the kudos? My guess would be... hmm, let's see... no one.
As you may have
guessed, this just kills me. It's an example of the slipshod,
style-over-substance, "Image is Everything" [Editor’s Note, January
2004: And, ironically enough, the guy who touts this, Andre Agassi,
now has eight Grand Slams: That’s
what I call substance] world in which we now live.
I've come to
the conclusion that such fiction is praised because most of the people reading
it simply don't know any better. That frightens me, because of what it
implies—that many Star Trek fans have remained intelligent, but have
slowly become ignorant.
And ignorance
is something I'll fight to my last breath.
Oh, and, by the
way... the spelling error in the title of this essay is intentional. Did
you notice it? Did you care?
See what I
mean?