Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

What line and copy editors require can help our reviewing

I was reading a few articles on editing in publishing houses. I came across this one from Chicago that highlights what copy editors and line editors want from each other. Granted, this is for the journalistic writing and it highlights the occasional clashes between the line editors and copy editors, but I thought we reviewers here in WdC could adapt a couple of their ideas to our style of reviewing.

As you know, the copy editor (just like an English teacher) is the last stop, the last resort before any writing goes to press, provided the final work is approved by the author.

Line editor is the one who sees the work first and checks if the story makes sense, the contents are well organized, and the separate parts (scenes, characters, plot, or the way ideas are offered) fit together well.

This is the same in every publishing house, although in some companies, you may find the same editor doing both jobs.

What I thought could be helpful for us are these requests made to copy editors by the line editors.

”Let us have that sense of style. A writer should be able to use the expression “…doesn’t float her boat” without having it automatically changed to “…fails to enthrall her.” Some years ago, a line editor – I can’t recall who it was – underlined this point by recalling a story in which a writer used ”air guitar” as a verb, as in ”he couldn’t resist the urge to air guitar…” I’d seen air guitar in print before but not as a verb, and I was delighted that it made it into print. I don’t want things to get out of control, but I like it when a writer tries coining a new phrase or even a new word. We should be willing to accept such attempts at word play or at least not toss them aside immediately

Try to edit holistically. A phrase that, taken by itself, might seem odd or incomplete may well make sense to the reader in the context or tone of the paragraphs that came before.”

Surely, without the line editors’ work, most writing would go down the drain.

And copy editors, too, have their points. They say:

Stylish writing is invalidated by bad grammar, bad spelling and other rudimentary flaws.

So true. Mechanical side of writing, if neglected, can make a reader dump a book. I’ve done that quite few times, sometimes with the self-published books where the writer didn’t bother to check his/her sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, or spelling. Of course, a seasoned author can do these things himself, as all things are possible in life, but it is a good idea to get several views on one’s writing anyhow.

This is where we reviewers come in, before either kind of these editors touches a piece of writing. It is a good idea, to incorporate inside us the needs of both these editors, so we can help each other better.

If you wish to read the entire article, here’s the link:

http://www.poynter.org/uncategorized/31457/ten-things-copy-editors-want-from-lin...