You See What You Think You Should

Sometimes, when I'm editing somebody else's work, I will come across a sentence that sounds really bad. Something about the word usage and grammar used, even though it's all technically correct, just strikes me in an unpalatable way. And yet, I sometimes catch myself struggling so much to revise the sentence to find a better way to express the idea that I convince myself that the original sentence was fine. 

When I reach the point that a sentence that set off a red flag is suddenly ok, that sets off a completely different red flag. It means that I've convinced myself that the wrong answer is right, just because it was there in front of me. 

This problem can get even worse when the original author is there talking with me. Authors that are either too confident in themselves or too defensive about their work try to convince editors that their writing doesn't need to be edited.

In a certain sense, you see what you think you should. When somebody tells you what an abstract picture looks like, that's what you see it as. When somebody tells you an interpretation of a poem, it tends to make sense that way. The problem is that it tends to poison our minds. We lose our objectivity. That is why I am always appreciative of a fresh pair of eyes. They aren't biased in any way, so they will tell me more than anyone else could.