One of my fellow editors asked for my opinion the other day related to "[sic]." I've got her back, she's got mine.
V: Quoted material in MS: "Despite any efforts put into the surge, the first six months of 2007 was still. . ." Would you insert [sic] after "was"?
ME: Either that or just fix it without the sic, to not draw attention to it. Of course I couldn't find this in CM [Chicago Manual of Style], but aren't we allowed to simply fix errors of this kind?
V: So I should change the "was" to "were" and leave it at that? Suppose that would work.
ME: It works for me. Who's going to object?
Showing posts with label Tricks of the trade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tricks of the trade. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
What's past is past.
My freelance colleague V is proofing a book I edited for the nonfiction publisher she and I work for. It was a horrible, messy manuscript: 12 or so different writers, with the lead writer/editor not doing squat to pull it together or even ensure that each chapter was "complete" in terms of the contractual agreement between himself and the company.
She asked me some questions regarding my editing approach to the book, particularly in the area of style. For the most part, I couldn't answer her questions.
Me to V: The reason I block out much of my work is simple: self-preservation, mental health, unloading baggage . . .
V to me: I have selective retention for the same reasons. If you're going to save brain "disk space" for important stuff—bank balances, TV schedules, birthdays, PIN numbers, for instance—gotta let the other stuff go. Can always look it up later if you need it.
She asked me some questions regarding my editing approach to the book, particularly in the area of style. For the most part, I couldn't answer her questions.
Me to V: The reason I block out much of my work is simple: self-preservation, mental health, unloading baggage . . .
V to me: I have selective retention for the same reasons. If you're going to save brain "disk space" for important stuff—bank balances, TV schedules, birthdays, PIN numbers, for instance—gotta let the other stuff go. Can always look it up later if you need it.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Our Dirty Little Secret
Artists sign their paintings, many animals mark their territories, and people leave their marks in a variety of ways. So, too, do editors.
While we mostly work “anonymously”—that is, our name rarely appears on the work we edit—many editors leave behind a signature of sorts, to be shared with their brothers and sisters in arms in a sort of one-upmanship contest of creativity and stealth.
Here, from some of my partners in crime, are my ten favorites, along with a brief summary of the emotional basis of their mark.
P.I.: I insert an extra space between sentences in the middle of page 50. Breathing room.
O.O.: On page 69, I omit a serial comma as close to the middle of the page as possible. Page 96 is my backup page. Screw Harvard; I’m a Yalie.
L.A.: I use my current age to select the page on which I’ll replace an en dash with an em dash. I’ll subtract one page at a time, if necessary, to find a page on which to do this. I love M&Ms.
E.H.: I’ll insert an extra period in the tenth ellipsis. Who’s counting anyway.
Y.O.: If the work contains the names of congressional representatives, the district number of the ninth name is increased by one. They’re all tools anyway.
M.M.: The final occurrence of the possessive form of a name ending in s doesn’t get the final s after the apostrophe. What’s good enough for Jesus.
L.U.: In a scientific or technical work, I’ll change the treatment of data (singular vs. plural) at its last appearance in the final chapter. You say tomato, I say tomatoes.
J.Z.: The seventeenth quotation mark gets placed inside the closing punctuation. So sue me!
C.K.: In the bibliography, the first publisher with an ampersand in its name gets an “and” in its place. Ridiculous looking symbol.
B.R.: The third appearance of “III,” as in John Jones III, loses a generation, if you get my drift. Pompous asses!
While we mostly work “anonymously”—that is, our name rarely appears on the work we edit—many editors leave behind a signature of sorts, to be shared with their brothers and sisters in arms in a sort of one-upmanship contest of creativity and stealth.
Here, from some of my partners in crime, are my ten favorites, along with a brief summary of the emotional basis of their mark.
P.I.: I insert an extra space between sentences in the middle of page 50. Breathing room.
O.O.: On page 69, I omit a serial comma as close to the middle of the page as possible. Page 96 is my backup page. Screw Harvard; I’m a Yalie.
L.A.: I use my current age to select the page on which I’ll replace an en dash with an em dash. I’ll subtract one page at a time, if necessary, to find a page on which to do this. I love M&Ms.
E.H.: I’ll insert an extra period in the tenth ellipsis. Who’s counting anyway.
Y.O.: If the work contains the names of congressional representatives, the district number of the ninth name is increased by one. They’re all tools anyway.
M.M.: The final occurrence of the possessive form of a name ending in s doesn’t get the final s after the apostrophe. What’s good enough for Jesus.
L.U.: In a scientific or technical work, I’ll change the treatment of data (singular vs. plural) at its last appearance in the final chapter. You say tomato, I say tomatoes.
J.Z.: The seventeenth quotation mark gets placed inside the closing punctuation. So sue me!
C.K.: In the bibliography, the first publisher with an ampersand in its name gets an “and” in its place. Ridiculous looking symbol.
B.R.: The third appearance of “III,” as in John Jones III, loses a generation, if you get my drift. Pompous asses!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
