For Editors
Editing as much an art as a science. This aspect of editing is done first in the publishing process.
What is selecting material for publication?
Many authors don’t care about this set of rules.
What is grammar?
A copy editor will consider whether each instance of bold, italics, or small caps serves a purpose and should be preserved.
What is formatting?
If anything comes up that might interfere with the publisher’s schedule, writers should give out inform their editor.
What is reasonable warning?
If a writer has something worth to say, then they should care about communicating it to this person.
Who is the reader?
Editors must not only apply the rules but also apply ____.
What is good judgment?
Formal scholarly writing came around to allowing a writer to speak for himself.
What is first-person?
Editors are responsible for the meaning of words, however without prior knowledge of the subject matter, editors can accidentally change the correct meaning to something incorrect.
What is overconfidence?
Discuss issues of perceived inconsistencies with your copy editor before doing this on your own.
What is fixing?
If the writer is convinced that the original wording is the way they want it, they should type this word beside it.
What is stet?
As editors, our goal is task is to assist the writer in the job of ____.
What is communication?
The Five W's of Journalism provides a guide for both writers and editors to ensure basic facts are communicated.
What is "who, what, when, where, and why?"
There are always exceptions that depend on syntax, intentions, or audience. As an editor, maintaining this is optional or even misguided.
What is consistency?
If you believe the editing is misguided, do this in the margins or cover letter.
What is explaining?
Margaret Palm says each sentence, paragraph, and chapter should convey one idea, with the ideas becoming more general as the writer progresses up the scale.
What is focus?
This type of editing requires some knowledge of the subject matter.
What is editing for content?
Writer Richard Peck throws out the first chapter without reading it and writes it anew. The Subversive Copy Editor refers to this phrase.
What is throat-clearing?
Copy must undergo copyediting regardless of its state at submission is that it must be prepared for this process.
What is typesetting?
This is the last resort after trying to resolve things with the editor directly.
What is a complaint?
Every piece of writing attracts readers by providing something that concerns individual people because editing is done primarily to benefit the reader.
What is good content?
Editing requires care to ensure the writing communicates better than it did in its original form. Plotnik posed ten questions that begin with this phrase.
What is the phrase "has the editor?"
Writers may use imprecise language or misusing words entirely to commit Big Thinks. For the sake of the reader, editors must be alert to misused words to pursue this goal.
What is plain and comprehensible communication?
This is an accepted editor practice whereby style rules are tweaked for the sake of minimizing unavoidable distractions to the reader.
What is regional consistency?
Following the instructions in this document prevents expensive error, delays, and charges for excessive alterations to proof.
What is a cover letter?
Margaret Palm compares nonfiction prose to this structure. Charting the outline of a piece of writing to this can help editors identify the story’s organization.
What is pyramid building?