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Fanfare, v. 1, issue 3, August 1940
Page 9
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FANFARE SHALL WE EDIT? by Harry Warner, Jr. That question isn't asked enough, I'm afraid. In fact, very few fan magazine readers seem to bother in the least whether material in a fan magazine has been changed, gone over, or left untouched. I think it would be a good idea to clear up a few points on this virtually unthough-of subject. When I refer to editing, throughout this article, I mean changingthe body of fan writings as done by the editor of a fan publication, and not the deciding of format, type of material, and so forth. That depends to a large extent--the last named--upon the temperament of the individual fan, and on his available facilities; and anyway, it doesn't matter much from the literary end. Just about anything a fan writes can manage to see print somewhere. If it's putrid, it may be rejected once or twice in exceptional cases, but it will eventually find a haven with someone who needs material badly. The whole thing resolves into a few basic choices answering the question: "Shall we edit?". Some fans seem to think that fan material should be published just as received, without any alterations on the editor's part. However, about the only subscription magazine which does that religiously, and on purpose is the Voice of the Imagi-nation. They even go so far as to leave typing errors as made. (They haven't got around to reproducing strike-overs, thank heaven!) Of course, there are a great many other fan magazines which do this in the FAPA, but that's because they're all written by their own editors in part or entirely, and you can't very well edit something you write yourself I'd regard that as correcting. Then there are the fans who are just a bit to be pitied. I've sometimes thought-- They are those who publish fan magazines and print everything exactly as received, never editing, but merely because it has never occurred to them that it might improve something to change it a bit. Or else they are too lazy, or just haven't the ability. I know there are a great many fan magazines like this, because I've had something published by most of them now extant, and have been able to check to a certain extent. (Although I don't follow in the footsteps of some fans and compare the printed product with my carbon, and fly off the handle if a comma has been omitted!) Also, there are the fans who pursue a sort of middle course----probably the largest group. They usually will print something you write for them practically as you've written it, but will sometimes substitute an adjective, reunite the component parts of a split infinitive, perhaps insert a sentence all their own to make the meaning of something clear, break up a long paragraph into two, and so forth. Also, at times they'll cut a larger or smaller number of words from your manuscirpt, perhaps because they think it's redundant, perhaps due to lack of space. On the whole, I think that's the best course to pursue. Surely, if you're not going to make an effort to publish anything exactly as received, there's little sense in adhering to that policy at all. That is, if you intend to let the fan world gaze at the fans' creations without any changes, in order that they may be judged strictly
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FANFARE SHALL WE EDIT? by Harry Warner, Jr. That question isn't asked enough, I'm afraid. In fact, very few fan magazine readers seem to bother in the least whether material in a fan magazine has been changed, gone over, or left untouched. I think it would be a good idea to clear up a few points on this virtually unthough-of subject. When I refer to editing, throughout this article, I mean changingthe body of fan writings as done by the editor of a fan publication, and not the deciding of format, type of material, and so forth. That depends to a large extent--the last named--upon the temperament of the individual fan, and on his available facilities; and anyway, it doesn't matter much from the literary end. Just about anything a fan writes can manage to see print somewhere. If it's putrid, it may be rejected once or twice in exceptional cases, but it will eventually find a haven with someone who needs material badly. The whole thing resolves into a few basic choices answering the question: "Shall we edit?". Some fans seem to think that fan material should be published just as received, without any alterations on the editor's part. However, about the only subscription magazine which does that religiously, and on purpose is the Voice of the Imagi-nation. They even go so far as to leave typing errors as made. (They haven't got around to reproducing strike-overs, thank heaven!) Of course, there are a great many other fan magazines which do this in the FAPA, but that's because they're all written by their own editors in part or entirely, and you can't very well edit something you write yourself I'd regard that as correcting. Then there are the fans who are just a bit to be pitied. I've sometimes thought-- They are those who publish fan magazines and print everything exactly as received, never editing, but merely because it has never occurred to them that it might improve something to change it a bit. Or else they are too lazy, or just haven't the ability. I know there are a great many fan magazines like this, because I've had something published by most of them now extant, and have been able to check to a certain extent. (Although I don't follow in the footsteps of some fans and compare the printed product with my carbon, and fly off the handle if a comma has been omitted!) Also, there are the fans who pursue a sort of middle course----probably the largest group. They usually will print something you write for them practically as you've written it, but will sometimes substitute an adjective, reunite the component parts of a split infinitive, perhaps insert a sentence all their own to make the meaning of something clear, break up a long paragraph into two, and so forth. Also, at times they'll cut a larger or smaller number of words from your manuscirpt, perhaps because they think it's redundant, perhaps due to lack of space. On the whole, I think that's the best course to pursue. Surely, if you're not going to make an effort to publish anything exactly as received, there's little sense in adhering to that policy at all. That is, if you intend to let the fan world gaze at the fans' creations without any changes, in order that they may be judged strictly
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