Judgement time

Recently, an editor colleague made a passing comment about some tracked changes she was dutifully navigating through.

It always seems so judgemental when they are in red, doesn't it?

For me this went to the heart of content ownership. Even the most amenable of authors and the most diplomatic of editors are engaged in a sidestep dance to make their mark on a piece of text. People take content personally. And, to some extent, so they should, otherwise what's the point.

Fail

But it made me wonder: what if changes didn't appear like some aggrieved teacher's scribble?

You remember don't you? The accusatory double question marks. The strike-throughs that almost shredded the paper. The pure disbelief that any student of mine could be wasting my time with this crap?

Maybe that's what we recall when we see Microsoft's clinical excision of our finely crafted phrase, our illuminating alliteration, our lovely list.

What if it was green?