Rebecca Bohanan

Instructor Bio

MFA, writer, and print publishing editor at Zagat and MAD magazine. Beyond the magazine, her MAD credits include MAD Meredith Corp. books and a mini MAD for the Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood DVD box set. She has been published in the New York Times’ Modern Love column, and on HuffPost and Jezebel.

Instructor Statement

I believe experiential learning is the best way to master editorial skills. Most writers have an intuitive sense for editing, but need to learn to trust that intuition. When I’m editing for myself or others, I’ve found that if I’m questioning whether or not I should make a particular cut, the answer is always yes. And the more editing I do, the more quickly and confidently I trust my initial instincts. Editing is not separate from the writing process, it’s central to it. Many first drafts of any type of writing have silent protagonists, disappearing narrators, or conclusions that are stronger than the thesis statements. This happens when we’re unclear on what our own relationship is to what we’re writing about. It’s through editing that we uncover the most powerful version of what we’re trying to say, which we can then pull to the forefront in subsequent drafts. As Stephen King put it, “To write is human, to edit is divine.”