The editor’s task

We’re reminded of one job we generally avoid.

Our astronomer has submitted a paper to a journal, and received the reviewer’s comments.  He expected a number of requests for modification, for additions or deletions, and was not disappointed.  He will proceed with some rewriting, and point out where other things are just not practical.  Our astronomer does complain to us, however, that the reviewer often seems to have commented on the paper that he thought should have been written, or that he (the reviewer) would have written, rather than what was actually done.

This reminded our tutor of the main reason he does not handle English or other essay-writing.  On the few occasions when he’s been pressed into service, his first urge is to work out how he would approach the assignment himself.  That’s not very useful for the student, who (to put it mildly) is a quite different person.  There is an art to bringing out ideas from within someone else, and he doesn’t claim to be good at it.

Of course, he can correct or modify an existing piece of writing.  He’s reasonably good at grammar and syntax (in English and one or two other languages).  He can even help with organizing the structure of an essay, making sure the ideas follow logically, helping the student say what he or she actually wants to say; that sort of thing.  But inspiring ideas in the first place is something else.

We’ve thought a bit about the problem, and have a few suggestions.  First, ask questions.  This worked reasonably well with a student who had to write (in Spanish) about a particular picture.  Who are these people?  What are they doing?  Why?  How long have they been there?  In fact, this is how he works best in tutoring math or science.  One student asked, “Does a gas dissolve in a liquid better or worse at higher pressure?”  Rather than give the answer, our tutor asked, “What happens when you open a can of soda?”  The student replied, “You release the pressure, bubbles form in the soda and come to the surface, so the gas must dissolve better at high pressure!”  It was very gratifying.  (It didn’t work at all when he tried it on another student.)

Sometimes it’s a matter of a hint.  “That bug is moving in a circle at a constant speed.  That suggests uniform circular motion.”  How would this translate to an English essay?  “Hmm.  Macbeth has trouble sleeping,” maybe.

But we haven’t convinced our tutor to take on essays in general, and he is firm against dealing with the college-entrance essay.  And we haven’t worked out how to help our astronomer in his next bit of creative idea-making: what should he do for his next paper?