I was amused by this recent Salon article about an editor whose friends keep asking her to help edit their personal ads. I hadn’t thought about it before, but I suppose it’s much in the same way that doctors are always getting asked for medical advice or how IT guys are often asked to help with their friends’ PCs.
Editing is subjective. One editor’s treasure is another’s trash. Under the “Five things I can't live without” section I can’t delete intangibles like “laughter” and “the ability to dream” fast enough. Or, under “Things you’ll find in my bedroom,” “bare walls,” “piles of paper” and “free stuff I get from work” says little. “Less Ikea furniture than before,” tells me more (you’re creative and upwardly mobile). […]