Re. SOS: being grilled by an editor?

["Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Roxanne Wood is worried: <<The only writing experience I have is that I
research different aspects of technology and furnish an on-line newspaper
with a weekly column. They understand that I am not a skilled writer but I
am
aspiring to become on. I was told that they were going to focus on my
potential and not my skill level. I feel the interview went very well,
however they have asked me to return for a second interview with the head of
their editorial dept. I don't know if they were kidding or not but I was
told that he would grill me. "Now I am very concerned." I do
not have an English degree.>>

No idea what you can expect. Everyone uses "grill" differently, with
meanings ranging from a friendly but very comprehensive discussion of where
you've been and what you've done right on down to "Roxanne as a main dish,
suitably charred". Speaking for myself alone, I'm an editor and I don't bite
unless invited to. <g> Also speaking for myself alone, the English degree is
irrelevant. If you've conned an editor into publishing you weekly, as I've
done (monthly) <g>, and the folks who interviewed you like your writing too,
it sounds like you've got the skill you need to work there. When you talk to
the editor, emphasize that you recognize and are willing to work on (with
his help) your limitations as a writer (just be sure you really mean it).
Sweeter words never fell upon an editor's ear.

--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

"Technical writing... requires understanding the audience, understanding
what activities the user wants to accomplish, and translating the often
idiosyncratic and unplanned design into something that appears to make
sense."--Donald Norman, The Invisible Computer