Some things I checked in my last copyedit:
-song lyrics (as in listening to the actual song)
-spider anatomy (ew)
-whether certain planets are aligned on a future date
-whether said architect designed X
-Japanese names
-math
When you have to google "biggest spider in the world" for the copyedit you're working on, so you wince and brace yourself for the inevitable image results as you hit Enter.
Sitting down with a 1,200-word proofread when my last editing task was an 80,000-word line edit and I'm having to steer my brain pretty hard over here 😂 @edibuddies#AmEditing
You know you're an editor when someone asks whether "anyone's familiar with Chicago" and your first thought is The Chicago Manual of Style, not the city.
Granted, this question was in a group of editors, but I still laughed at myself.
The Conscious Language Toolkits for Writers and Editors are 20% off through November 30! These resources provide guidance on choosing language that's more intentional, compassionate, and empowering, and they include terms to be aware of, alternatives to consider, and where to learn more. bit.ly/RedPenRabbitShop
A haunted house for editors: zombie rules, hills that editors have died on, manuscripts that suck the life out of you, ghosts of uncaught errors past, and people who insist something's wrong when it's really a style choice.
I find it very rude that an author would write something in their story that makes me cry while I'm trying to proofread their novel. It's hard enough to check for typos, bad breaks, layout issues, and the like when it's not through tear-filled eyes.
As a copyeditor, I find that few things are as satisfying as finding an entry or example in the style guide that matches what I'm looking for to a T. No ambiguity, no guesswork, just "this is what you do in the exact scenario you're dealing with."
It's funny how quickly my brain can go from "Yay, editing! I've got this!" to "Do I even know English?" when I come across a usage that may be totally valid and common but that I've never seen before.
I haven't tracked the hours, but I'm pretty sure that ever since I became a freelancer, I've spent half my work days staring at my calendar and thinking either "Oh no, there's a gap in my schedule" or "Oh no, what have I done?"
Is the use of "alleged" correct in this sentence from @washingtonpost ?
"The judge overseeing a civil trial over alleged business fraud committed by Donald Trump and his company issued a gag order in the case Tuesday barring the former president from making public comments about his court staff."
The judge already found T to have committed fraud for the past 10 years. Nothing alleged about it. Amiright? Or no?
Romance writers (& editors), are you interested in gender as a craft tool & inclusion issue? I've just reposted my article ✨ Doing Gender on Purpose: Diversity, Depth, and Character in Romance✨ so that it's freely available. I hope you'll check it out, share it, give it a think :) https://www.eliotwesteditorial.com/gender-on-purpose.html
I love it when something I learned in a previous edit comes in handy. I just queried the use of "poisonous" where "venomous" seemed more appropriate, which I had learned about years ago for another edit, and I may or may not have squeed when I spotted it this time.
FYI:
venomous = toxins are injected
poisonous = toxins are ingested
Bite, sting, or barb? Venomous.
Dangerous to eat or touch? Poisonous.
Something awry with today’s Observer newspaper. A Q&A with Rowetta (Manchester singer with Happy Mondays etc.) seemingly published with the answers from actor Mathew Horne. Rowetta gains a Norwegian wife, a baby son, and (most unlikely of all) a love of Tottenham Hotspur FC.
Folks who work on very long docs in Word using Comments: Is there anything I need to look out for? I’m about to start the longest project I’ve ever done in Word specifically and am slightly concerned I’ll get partway through & somehow explode the document. Wisdom? @edibuddies#edibuddies@editors#AmEditing
Learn about the whys and hows of inclusive language ... on your own time! Topics include race, gender, sexuality, body size, disability, socioeconomic status, religion, age, & more.
This class is for intermediate and beginner inclusive language explorers including fiction and nonfiction writers, communications professionals, editors, and students.
Tomorrow (Tuesday, September 19) at 4 p.m. ET, I'll be doing a webcast for @aceseditors called "An Editor's Guide to Assessing and Addressing Problematic Content." It's free for ACES members and $30 for nonmembers.
Even if you can't attend live, you'll get the recording and slide deck if you register.
Copyeditors: Writer, please list every single member of this person's family so I know whether to put commas around the family member's name when they're referenced by their relationship to said person.