My first love is editing myself. But my second joy as an editor comes from helping another's work become clean and sharp, to reveal the writer's unique voice and eye.

I think an editor's job is to make sure that the writer's message doesn't get mired in the writer's love of language. Not to debate over adjectives. I will often re-organize the flow of a story, swapping paragraphs and sentences around so that each piece has enough drama for the reader to want to find out how the story ends. At the beginning of my career, a writer-friend told me that the narrative spine of a good crime story is always the same. It starts with killing off the victim, bringing him or her back to life, and then killing them off again. That has become my approach to organizing or editing almost any piece of writing. Reel the reader in, tell them why they should bother to read on, give them the details to help them identify with the topic, and then, let the summation package it up for a take-home message. Maybe I've watched too many crime dramas but I've found this approach as successful for editing annual reports as for first person travel-stories.

In addition to editing other people's work, I've been privileged to be the Launch and Executive Editor for two national niche travel magazines — Pure Canada and American Express' Escapes. From working on the publication's name, appearance, message, I have totally enjoyed be creating a two brand new editorial vehicles that continue to thrive.