Shortly after I started editing seriously, I told a friend what I was doing and he asked, ‘Don’t you find it lonely?’ I was surprised by the question, because that hadn’t occurred to me, and he was surprised by my answer: ‘No.’ In this article, I share my personal experiences and my thoughts on ‘loneliness’, in case others are grappling with this phenomenon and wondering how editors cope.

Introverts and extroverts

Later, I thought, ‘Is it supposed to be lonely? Am I doing it wrong?’ I had emerged from a busy teaching career, surrounded by people all day. Now I was sitting quietly at home, editing. I’m an introvert, but I wondered how other people were experiencing this profession.

So I Googled it. On Reddit, I found many answers (quoted verbatim):

• ‘I wish it were. The constant badgering by producers and directors is annoying.’
• ‘Ive [sic] worked as a night assistant editor alone for a year up until recently. I saw co-workers maybe an hour a day if that. 10-11 hours alone in the office processing footage. Then you sleep all day because you work all night; it can be very lonely. I made the best of it by having music or a tv show playing in the background. And i [sic] know its party [sic] of the work towards being an editor so I am happy to do it!’
• ‘I’ve never met another editor that wouldn’t prefer [a] quiet space to actually work [in]. The open office thing is complete garbage in our profession, at least imo.’
• ‘There’s time to be alone when cutting, but you interface with clients, producers, directors, DPs, and you have to network to survive. I don’t think it’s lonely at all.’
• ‘If you’re lucky. It’s awesome to be left alone for extended periods of time, but much rarer these days. You’re always collaborating with someone – story producer, music supervisor, EP … and you can always shoot the breeze with whoever [sic].’

Collaboration: Local and international

Many answers, from many types of editors. Clearly, some were film and music editors, with a different perspective. And what an extrovert might find lonely, an introvert might not. As an editor of the written word, I find myself on long-distance teams – collaborating sometimes with an editor (or an author) in Cape Town, Taiwan or Australia. I find this very exciting – being part of an international team, even a small one. Frequently, I have to send a message and then wait impatiently for someone in Melbourne to wake up and reply. This aspect of being on a team – and I could include PEG here too – alleviates any feelings of loneliness.

When I collaborate with others, a sense of community is built. I also learn about other editors’ approaches: reading their comments to authors is illuminating. Most editors are open to some back-and-forth without being intrusive. So for me, it’s the right balance between working alone and interacting.

Time to debrief

There is also the intellectual challenge. When you are thinking eight hours a day (or more), and researching obscure words on Google Scholar, how is there time to be lonely? When my wife gets home I tell her what I’ve been doing. This is good for debriefing my brain. She also debriefs me about her day – she sees colleagues in an office environment.

I think I would find it lonely if I couldn’t tell real people what I was doing. But for those for whom that is not the case, here’s my take on it: I’ve found value in working alone. I can focus on what I have to do and I can choose what interruptions I’ll allow. I can talk to colleagues when I need to – even if I have to wait for a response sometimes. I seem to have found a balance between the things that make me feel alone in a contented way and the things I need to do to not feel alone.

We have options when we choose to work remotely. But maybe some of us have more options than others. And maybe some of us are more extroverted than I am. For a relative introvert, I can confirm that my experience is positive, and one can be alone but not lonely.

707 words