01.31.09
Posted in Newsletter at 4:01 pm by Administrator
Discipline: training that corrects, molds, or perfects; control gained by obedience or training (The Merriam-Webster Dictionary).
Writing takes discipline. Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could all sit down and let the words pour forth, without effort or struggle? Sometimes you do get into a flow and fill page after page easily, but most of the time writing is hard work. When the words aren’t flowing it’s tempting to chuck it all and go sit on the sofa to watch reality TV and eat cheese curls (not that I ever do that). This is where discipline comes in. Here are a few ideas to help keep the words flowing at a steady pace.
1. Make a commitment to finish something every month. I used to make New Year’s resolutions to write every day of the coming year, but I failed year after year—it was just too hard. If you give yourself a whole month to finish a short story or article, or even a chapter of your novel, you may be more likely to succeed. A deadline—even a self-imposed one—can help you focus and plan. Of course, this only works if you stick to that deadline!
2. Start a blog. If you want to keep your writing muscles in shape, you need to write frequently. The external pressure of maintaining a blog can motivate you to produce quality work quickly and consistently. And you don’t have to be a computer wizard to do this. Trust me, if I can blog, so can you. (By the way, I have two blogs now, Adventures in Editing and Notes from the Bog.)
3. Give yourself a reward when you meet a goal. Food rewards work well for me; I like to have a fancy chocolate bar or treat myself to breakfast at Bob Evans when I’ve been especially good. Choose a reward that will work for you, whether that means having a manicure, going to a movie, or enjoying your favorite dinner. Most importantly, if you don’t meet your goal, you don’t get your reward!
Remember that discipline in this case is not about punishment. The disciplined writer knows that working consistently over time is still the surest way to succeed at writing. If you miss a deadline, self-imposed or otherwise, look immediately to the next deadline and commit yourself to meeting it. Don’t look back and beat yourself up for your past failures; look ahead and create a plan for success today and in the future.
Permalink
01.29.09
Posted in Editorial Musings at 9:35 pm by Administrator
I regularly work with both Microsoft Word and Corel’s WordPerfect (but more often with Word). Both are fine programs, but neither is perfect. I often dream of having the perfect word-processing program—one that incorporates all of my favorite features and eliminates annoying quirks.
My perfect program would include:
• Word 2007’s track-changes feature, which I find so much easier to use than the somewhat cumbersome WordPerfect version. Comments are also easier to manage in Word.
• WordPerfect’s excellent reveal-codes feature, which lets me know about the weird little formatting issues hiding within a document. There’s always something, and Word often doesn’t tell me what or where the issues are.
• WordPerfect’s basic formatting capabilities, which I think are more intuitive than those in Word. No inserting section breaks to remove the page number, header, or footer from a single page; just suppress the number, header or footer for that page—easy as pie. Others prefer the section breaks, but I’ve always found them (the breaks) irritating.
• The ability in Word to bring up the “Go To” box and punch in a page number without first clicking in the box. WordPerfect makes you manually place your cursor in the box, a small issue, but one that annoys me.
• Word’s obedience. Another annoying thing about WordPerfect: Many, many times I have made a correction, clicked on the next sentence, and watched my last correction revert to the original. I don’t think I’ve ever had this happen in Word. A few colleagues have reported the same issue, and our collective response is “What the #@$%?!” This quirk needs to be eliminated.
• The ability to easily edit footnotes and endnotes. Yet another beef I have with WordPerfect: Sometimes it seems to have a mind of its own when I’m working with notes. Just let me click wherever I want to click, please.
• The old Word Office Assistant (which is not included in Word 2007). Silly, I know, but sometimes I would turn on the Office Assistant (usually the cat) and click “animate” to amuse myself when I was bored or needed to give my eyes a break from editing. He never actually helped me with anything, but he sure was cute.
I could think of more, but those are the basics, the features I use or wish for most often. I think it’s a pretty short list. Surely I’m not asking for too much?
Permalink
01.27.09
Posted in Favorite Books and Authors at 8:15 pm by Administrator
English doesn’t always make sense, but that’s okay. I don’t always make sense either, which may partially explain why I enjoy learning about the little quirks of English; they make my quirks seem insignificant.
I first read The Mother Tongue in the early 1990s and was reintroduced to it a few years ago when my great-uncle Tom loaned me a copy to take my mind off my cancer treatment. For some of us, a romp through the oddities of language is just the thing to brighten our day. This is not a serious linguistic study, but has lots of tidbits of information presented with a touch of humor.
If you’ve been reading along with Adventures in Editing, by now you have probably realized I enjoy humor, and you will not be surprised to know that my favorite part of The Mother Tongue is the short but entertaining chapter about swearing. Actually, I very rarely swear, but I like to have a good supply of naughty words to say when I, for example, drop a can of soup on my foot. And Bryson has given me a whole new outlook on one of our language’s most versatile words, which I will not write here because this is a PG-rated blog. You’ll have to look that one up for yourself!
Permalink
01.24.09
Posted in Editorial Musings at 3:14 pm by Administrator
I am a National Public Radio geeklet. I used to be a full-fledged NPR geek, but I’ve recently been downgraded because I cannot edit and listen to the radio at the same time, so my total listening hours have dropped dramatically. There is one thing I make sure not to miss—The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor. I just can’t think of a better way to start each day than enjoying a perfect cup of coffee while listening to Mr. Keillor read a poem.
The Writer’s Almanac also teaches me something every day. For example, this week I learned that on January 21, 1952, William Shawn took over as editor of The New Yorker magazine. More relevant to the subject of this post (which I am slowly getting around to), I learned that Shawn and an author once argued over a hyphen until 2:30 a.m.
And the true subject of this post is: I would never do that.
If you’ve been paying attention, you know that I do care about hyphens. If you’ve been paying attention and you’re not an editor, you might think I care too much about hyphens. Rest assured, though, that I would never argue about a hyphen past 10:00 p.m. (when I fall into blissful, unhyphenated slumber).
Granted, I’m not enforcing the editorial standards of a high-profile magazine, but my philosophy is to let the author have his or her way in many of these matters. It is, after all, the author’s prerogative to be technically wrong sometimes, and a hyphen is just not worth losing sleep over. Similarly, the odd comma is not worth losing sleep over. Neither is “alright” (or “all right,” as the purists insist). In these cases, I’m perfectly content to state my case and then let the author be wrong but happy.
Don’t get me started on “lie” versus “lay” though. I’ll go to the mat on that one. I may even stay up until 10:30.
Permalink
01.22.09
Posted in Editorial Musings at 6:38 pm by Administrator
Do you have what it takes to be a good editor? Obviously you can read, so you’ve met the most basic requirement, but editing is so much more than reading (as I’ve said over and over and over). See if you’ve got these other indispensible attributes.
1. A firm grasp of the rules of grammar. No, you do not have to know everything under the sun about English grammar, but you do need above-average skills. Perhaps most importantly, you need to know enough to recognize when you need to look something up.
2. Insatiable curiosity and a mind for minutiae. Editors tend to be curious about everything. Those of us who are not specialists edit a wide variety of material on topics we don’t always get to choose. I find that exciting; I enjoy taking my mind to new places and learning things I never imagined I would want to know. Editors need to learn constantly and file those bits and pieces of information away in their voluminous brains. You never know when you will need to call up some random fact to help you on an editing job. Also, you will need to remember that the character Suzie Smith had a two-year-old tabby cat on page 10, so when that cat suddenly morphs into a six-month-old calico on page 72 you will recognize the discrepancy.
3. The ability to maintain a high level of concentration for hours at a time. When your mind drifts off while you’re editing, you are going to miss something. You need to be able to focus completely on what you’re editing, even when you are tired or would rather be doing something else.
4. A dirty mind. This is my favorite characteristic. If you don’t immediately snicker at the unfortunate headline “How to Put Pickles Up Yourself” (from a newspaper’s food section—at least that’s what my journalism professor told us), you will be liable to leave your authors in embarrassing situations.
5. A sense of humor. Another favorite of mine. Trust me, as an editor you will read assaults on the English language that will make you either sigh in despair or burst into laughter. Choose laughter.
Permalink
01.20.09
Posted in Favorite Books and Authors at 7:04 pm by Administrator
This book is amusingly and appropriately subtitled The Curmudgeon’s Guide to the Many Things That Can Go Wrong in Print—And How to Avoid Them. I’m not a curmudgeon yet, but I think I have great potential to become one someday, and I’ve seen my share of characters lapse into commas, so Walsh’s book became an instant favorite of mine the first time I read it.
I haven’t read it in a while, but I got to thinking about Lapsing Into a Comma again when I was writing my lament on lost hyphens (“Where Have All the Hyphens Gone?”). I’ve never seen anyone other than Bill Walsh take the time to explain why “bad hair day” isn’t hyphenated. In fact, I don’t know of anyone else who has explained the ins and outs of hyphenation in a way that makes sense and is often downright funny.
Of course the whole book isn’t about hyphens. Walsh also explains other misunderstood punctuation marks, points out some frequently misspelled and/or misused words, and reminds us to look out for “$100 dollars” and other sneaky errors. Best of all, his fun-to-read explanations show the reader how to think editorially. Lapsing Into a Comma has certainly made me a better writer and editor, and it didn’t even hurt!
This post could have been longer, but I got distracted while flipping through the book. Rather than go on and on describing the contents, I’ll just recommend that you read it yourself. Right now I’m going to read about “Moniker Lewinsky” again.
Permalink
01.17.09
Posted in Editorial Musings at 4:19 pm by Administrator
Certain things in life just bug me. For example, compounds that are missing their hyphens bug me—a lot. The hyphens are missing from work I’m editing (this does not bother me so much, because I’m the editor and fixing that sort of thing is my job), ads and other promotional materials, instruction manuals (yes, I do sometimes resort to reading those things), and published (and presumably edited) books and articles. It seems that everywhere I look I see these little gaps where a hyphen should go.
I’ve read about “sixteen year-old girls” going on dates (call me old-fashioned, but that is just too young!), “gray bearded men” (a little vitamin C and some sunlight would probably bring their color back), and “low flying planes” (a sad plane that is flying?). Of course I change these to “sixteen-year-old girls,” “gray-bearded men,” and “low-flying planes.” And every once in a while an author will ask me to please remove the hyphens. What is this language coming to?
It seems that the hyphen, like the comma, is misunderstood. This is not surprising, since hyphen usage (like comma usage) is to some extent a matter of personal taste. Personally, I like a good hyphen. I go for early-morning walks that are often necessary after my late-night snacks. I have lower-class taste than some people. It seems to me that the three hyphens in those sentences are needed for clarity. I do, however, avoid over-hyphenation. I don’t pick-up my mail or put-away my groceries. I see many high school students walking to school in the mornings (but some would argue that I actually see high-school students, unless the students I see are, in fact, high).
As Chicago says, “Readability and semantic logic are sometimes judged differently by equally literate writers or editors” (7.88). That’s a fancy way of saying one person will insert a hyphen where another would not, and they will both be correct. Fair enough, but some things—a realtor listing a “3 bedroom-, 2 bath-house,” for example—are clearly wrong, and others—a sub shop advertising “two foot long subs”—are wrong and confusing.
What can we do about our missing or misused hyphens? I have just thought of a way to fix our hyphen problem and stimulate the economy at the same time. Picture a brigade of hyphen police: Unemployed English majors would be issued spiffy uniforms and brand-new red pens, and they would roam the country righting hyphen wrongs everywhere they go. They would be sort of like the Grammar Vigilantes, only legal.
What do you think?
Permalink
01.15.09
Posted in Favorite Books and Authors at 9:31 pm by Administrator
This, somewhat obviously, is related to Age-appropriate Reading. I was actually going to write a serious post today about hyphens and their difficulties, but I don’t feel like it. I would much rather run and do something fun! And what could be more fun than Dr. Seuss?
Your Favorite Seuss is a collection of thirteen Seuss stories, compiled by Janet Schulman and Cathy Goldsmith. Just reading the table of contents makes me giddy: If I Ran the Zoo, The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, The Sneetches, The Lorax… These are the books that first made me love reading. I believe Green Eggs and Ham was instrumental in turning me into a word nerd (“I do not like them, Sam-I-am” —a phrase that is still useful!).
Dr. Seuss taught us that words do not have to be serious things. You can take them out and play with them, and sometimes you can even make up new ones. You can let words roll around on your tongue and then you can say them in a silly voice. You can take them apart and put them back together in new and interesting ways. And when you’re done doing all that, you can take them and make them into a hat!
No, seriously—if by playing with words you learn to love them and learn what they’re all about, you will be better able to use those words to say what needs saying. Because words aren’t just for playing; they’re also (and mostly) for communicating our very important thoughts. Something Dr. Seuss never ever forgot.
Permalink
01.13.09
Posted in Editorial Musings at 11:15 pm by Administrator
I never have enjoyed reading books that are considered “appropriate” for my age. In sixth grade I brought Steven King’s The Shining for individual reading time in English class. The teacher was concerned and asked, “Isn’t that a little old for you?” I shrugged my shoulders and kept reading, because I am extremely stubborn and absolutely hate being told I shouldn’t do something. The Shining may have been “too old” for the average sixth grader, but (in terms of reading level) I was about a decade “older” than my peers. Certainly I thought mere kids’ books were beneath me.
These days (a few years later) I adore kids’ books. Technically I guess they’re called “young adult” books now. The long list of books I wish I had time to read is full of kids’ books (and British mysteries, but we’ll talk about those some other time). As an adult, I’ve often been accused of wasting my time reading books that are presumably “too young” for me. Again, I shrug my shoulders and keep reading. No amount of criticism has ever turned me away from a good read.
But why young-adult books now? Two reasons, I think. First, as a child I took myself very seriously, but I am pretty much over that now, which means I can start catching up on all the fun I may have missed out on in my younger days. I used to love Thomas Hardy, but let’s face it, Harry Potter is a lot more fun. Second, I am really sick of cursing, violence, and sex. As an editor, I have read more than my share of books in which characters swear constantly, rip each other’s guts out periodically, and bop like bunnies on every third page or so. Trust me, it gets old. It’s so refreshing to crack open a book that I know will be good clean fun.
I was going to write something here along the lines of “I’m an adult who is young at heart, and that’s why I like young-adult books,” but having just revealed my longing for good clean fun, well, I feel a little old, and possibly prudish. Oh, well. I’ll go on enjoying those age-appropriate young-adult books, sans cursing, graphic violence, and sex, and if anyone laughs at me I’ll shrug my shoulders and read on. Hey, I’m older and even more stubborn now, and I know what’s best for me.
Permalink
01.10.09
Posted in Editorial Musings at 7:12 pm by Administrator
Occasionally I receive a query that goes something like this:
I hope u can help me. I already fired 3 other editors since they were messing up my book. The last editor I told her to stop cause she was horrible. My book is 700 pages long, single spaced, and I need it done next week. I don’t want any speling or any of my sentences changed cause I want to keep it in a unique style. Please reply ASAP with your estimate, and I hope its not to high.*
The easiest thing to do in such a situation is send my price quote, wait for the outraged reply of “You want how much?” and go on with my life. So far, this method has worked 100% of the time.
But this scenario raises some questions about the relationship between writers and editors.
Sometimes these relationships become quite close and last for many years, with each party holding genuine respect and even affection for the other. Even in a short-term working relationship, writer and editor normally treat one another with courtesy and professionalism—the editor respects the writer’s voice, and the writer respects the editor’s attempts to make that voice clearer. Unfortunately, there are editors who arrogantly try to impose their will on someone else’s writing, and there are writers who, also arrogantly, think all editors are unimaginative fools who don’t know genius when they see it.
Writers are not gods. Most writers already know this, and they accept their editors’ corrections and suggestions with an open mind. When they decide to reject a suggestion, they do so without making a big fuss.
Editors also are not gods. Most editors already know this, and they tread carefully when working with someone else’s writing. They make corrections thoughtfully and offer suggestions with tact and with the author’s benefit in mind. When a writer rejects their suggestions, the editor moves on without making a big fuss.
It’s fairly obvious to me that the writer of the above query thinks he (or she) is a minor god—but then I’m mostly an editor, so of course I would think that! Is it possible that this writer hired three incompetent or arrogant editors who each took a potential masterpiece and messed it up with their grammar and correct spelling? I suppose it is, but I tend not to trust people who misspell “spelling.” It seems much more likely that this particular author is just impossible to work with and doesn’t really want to be edited in the first place. This person should forego editing, self-publish their masterpiece, and have said masterpiece be read by exactly two people (the author and the author’s mother).
Then again, maybe I am just a know-it-all editor who couldn’t recognize true genius if it bit me on the nose!
*This query is fictional, but very similar to some real ones I have read.
Permalink
« Previous entries Next Page » Next Page »
