Being Old and Editing

How To Be Old

Catherine Hiller | Oldster | 22nd December 2025

Tongue-in-cheek guide from a 79 year old on how to "enjoy the entitlements" of age. Be sure to tell everyone about your precise state of health. Enjoy the little noises you now make when standing up or sitting down. When faced with new technology, "cultivate a state of learned helplessness" — if an 8-year-old can truly solve the problem, let them. Also: "Embrace your inner curmudgeon!" (1,300 words)

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Editing Is Only Good If the Editing Is Good

Freddie deBoer | 22nd December 2025

Responding to writing by saying that it "could use an editor" seems smart but is actually akin to repeating a sports cliché. It offers no specific critique and reveals ignorance of how editing works, especially today when so much of editorial work has been hollowed out. Some editing is good, some is bad. Overediting can be as bad as underediting. Concision isn't even necessarily an improvement (3,200 words)