Ruan

Ruan Wiggett is editing FunDza Fanz content on an ad hoc basis. Read her reasons for loving the work…

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I literally squeal with excitement and do a little dance on my seat when I see an email with an attachment from Zimkhitha Mlanzeli in my inbox, because I know I am about to get a new story, or even maybe a few stories, to edit for her. I skim through her letter and then open up the first story, being careful not to look at anything but the title. I download it and save the original and then make a copy for myself to edit. I do the same for the others and then, a good cup of coffee in hand, I deliciously open the first story.  I speed-read through it to get the gist, sit back and consider what I’ve read for a while, then I go back to the beginning and start the fascinating correcting and advising process.

While I am in the ‘zone’, everything else falls away. I try become one with the writer, helping them to put the words in their proper order so that the reader will understand their vision. I feel their pain or their joy; or I wonder what made that person think of that story. When it’s obviously auto-biographical, I cry with the writer as the pain unfurls.

I admire the writers so much. It takes enormous courage to write from your heart and give it to someone else for their consideration. It’s a gesture of absolute humility. They have no guarantee that the person they are giving it to is going to be kind. Thus, the Feedback form is my personal challenge.  With a fresh cup of coffee nearby, I give a breakdown, in a set format, of my overall view of the piece and then I add comments at the end if there is anything that I specifically enjoyed about the story, or if there are parts that I think could be worked on a bit more.

Every piece is a journey for me and it’s one that I take with absolute pleasure, every time. FunDza does an incredible job, not only providing easy reading material to thousands of people, but also with their other projects, and I am so proud to be associated with them.

Ruan Wiggett. Wynberg

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