Ten Books That Changed How We Edit

We asked everyone in the studio for the one book they would hand a new editor. We got ten answers and one long argument about Strunk.

Feedback lands better when it describes the effect rather than the fix. “I lost track here” is more useful than “move this paragraph”.

The first version of anything is a question, not an answer. Treating it that way makes feedback easier to give and much easier to hear.

A few practical notes

Feedback lands better when it describes the effect rather than the fix. “I lost track here” is more useful than “move this paragraph”.

• Write the ending before the middle
• Cut the first paragraph and see if anything is lost
• Read it aloud once, slowly
• Sleep on it before you publish

The details are not the details. They make the design.

Charles Eames

Every studio accumulates habits it never chose. Once a year we list them and ask whether each one still earns its place.