For Part A, 64, the last word in the sentence, “industry,” shows up on the following page. Is it okay to delete “industry” on the following page and insert it in the sentence on the previous page?
For Par C, are we answering the questions based on the original, intact version of Par B? Or would it be acceptable to use the version after our editing?
Showing posts with label tests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tests. Show all posts
Monday, April 9, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Test 3
(from Moon-Yun)
For some parts of the test, I felt like the copyeditor would have looked up the answers on a stylebook and not necessarily have the answer in his/her head, such as with the punctuation question. Would that be true?
For some parts of the test, I felt like the copyeditor would have looked up the answers on a stylebook and not necessarily have the answer in his/her head, such as with the punctuation question. Would that be true?
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
combining editing marks
In one particular spot on the test (question 17.), I edited four consecutive things. The question read:
"Has your journal done any readings? Just two to four of your authors at a reading series for a night?"
I deleted the first question mark, added and m-dash, replaced "just" with "for example", and added a comma after that. I used a carrot to mark my addition of the m-dash and you corrected it by counting the m-dash and "for example" as part of the same edit (the replacement of "Just"). Your correction made the editing cleaner and didn't inhibit interpretation of the marks.
So, my question is this: Should we always try to combine editing where we can, or should it only be employed when there is no chance of confusion?
Thanks!
"Has your journal done any readings? Just two to four of your authors at a reading series for a night?"
I deleted the first question mark, added and m-dash, replaced "just" with "for example", and added a comma after that. I used a carrot to mark my addition of the m-dash and you corrected it by counting the m-dash and "for example" as part of the same edit (the replacement of "Just"). Your correction made the editing cleaner and didn't inhibit interpretation of the marks.
So, my question is this: Should we always try to combine editing where we can, or should it only be employed when there is no chance of confusion?
Thanks!
Help wanted
I know that this class is titled Professional Editing, but what does that mean? Will we be professional editors after taking this class? Pat emphasized that there is a lot to learn about editing; a lot more than what is covered in the class material. What should we do after this class if we want to pursue a career in editing? Should we take more classes? Practice editing? Look for an entry level job? Many editing jobs require applicants to take an editing test as part of the interview process. If we do well in this class, will we do well on such a test?
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Reflections on Test 2
I have been trying to answer everyone's question without contradicting myself or our textbook; but rereading some of my responses to the posts, I realize that I need to state what I've been thinking but keeping to myself.
What Dzanc originally sent my office was a Word attachment to an e-mail message. The Word document is a hybrid of a proper business letter and an informal e-mail message (e-mail has, as you've no doubt heard, affected the levels of formality we now communicate at). When I copyedited the version I prepared for test 1, I tried to keep the author's informal style while correcting grammatical, spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors; that is, it was not my intention to turn it into a proper business letter.
What I asked you to do in test 2 is slightly different; that is one reason I asked you to use my editing of test 1 as a guide.
Also, I believe I mentioned in class that there is an organization, the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, that is already doing what Dzanc proposes to do. Dzanc's letter indicates no awareness of this organization, and this is another tip-off that Steve and Dan are inexperienced. I decided not to bring this up when we talked about the test because I didn't want it to be a factor in how you edited the text.
Hope that clears up a few things; let's talk more about these matters when we meet on Friday.
What Dzanc originally sent my office was a Word attachment to an e-mail message. The Word document is a hybrid of a proper business letter and an informal e-mail message (e-mail has, as you've no doubt heard, affected the levels of formality we now communicate at). When I copyedited the version I prepared for test 1, I tried to keep the author's informal style while correcting grammatical, spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors; that is, it was not my intention to turn it into a proper business letter.
What I asked you to do in test 2 is slightly different; that is one reason I asked you to use my editing of test 1 as a guide.
Also, I believe I mentioned in class that there is an organization, the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, that is already doing what Dzanc proposes to do. Dzanc's letter indicates no awareness of this organization, and this is another tip-off that Steve and Dan are inexperienced. I decided not to bring this up when we talked about the test because I didn't want it to be a factor in how you edited the text.
Hope that clears up a few things; let's talk more about these matters when we meet on Friday.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
three hours on six pages
I am ashamed to admit, but I must have spent about three hours copyediting test #2. What frustrated me was it seemed that the author took no more than an hour to write the piece. In an actual work environment, wouldn't it be more economical to ask the author to take another hour to rewrite instead of having a copyeditor spend hours trying to fix the work?
Monday, February 26, 2007
style vs. clarity
I know that we will talk about the test in depth on Friday, but I wanted to know already if I shot myself in the foot with my version. I know that copyeditors aren't supposed to rewrite things, but I felt as if I did that. Quite a bit. At some points, it bordered substantially. However, it was for the sake of clarity and purpose! Which was I supposed to take into consideration more? The purpose of the email (to present a business front in order to recruit literary journals into projects) or the author's style ("not great")? Is it okay because it was a business-type letter since those should be more cookie cutter? I would never take liberties like that with a piece of fiction or poetry.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Redundant
So I know we are supposed to edit instead of delete text, but a large portion of the text is redundant, misplaced, and illogical. I know it's late to be posting about this, but I think I'm going to have to claim clarity as my aim here. As well as keeping the author's colloquial, albeit cheesy style.
What do you think Pat? Am I going against what you want us to do, which is practice as much as possible our editing marks?
I feel torn, but I'm gonna go with my gut and with what I would do in a non-test situation.
What do you think Pat? Am I going against what you want us to do, which is practice as much as possible our editing marks?
I feel torn, but I'm gonna go with my gut and with what I would do in a non-test situation.
More questions
The following questions are Ritchie's; a response from me follows each one.
(Q1) Do we hand in the test with our copyediting marks, the final revision with no copyediting marks, or both?
The first: you are being graded on the way you make and use your copyediting marks.
(Q2) The greeting says, "Hello again editors of literary journals." Are we to assume that this letter is a sent mass e-mail? Are we to treat greetings and salutations like headers, where we capitalize certain words?
Please see the back of the version of test 1 with my editing marks; it has, as I pointed out in class, a follow-up e-mail message from Dzanc Books. You will see by reading it who the intended audience for the text of test 2 is.
Actually, the salutation says, "Hello again, Editors of Literary Journals." I suggested to Davis and Moon Yun that they look online for guidelines for the composition of business letters. One of my main reasons for doing this was to get them to focus on the salutation, which is not in the correct form.
(Q3) Are contractions appropriate in business (or any formal) letters? For example, in the second paragraph, "...how we'll go about getting all of the above plans into motion...."
It depends on what is being asked and whom it is being asked of. A personal letter to you from the White House—or, say, a printed invitation to a formal wedding—would probably not have any contractions. In this case, I would say it's all right to use them.
(Q4) I did not understand what the author meant by "want[ing] to pick the brains of the people who have been out on the front lines." When you do not understand an author's meaning, do you still copyedit the sentence, or do you query the author about it's meaning? (I just deleted that part of the sentence because it sounded informal. Plus, if my assumptions are correct, then he is referring to the questions portion of the e-mail.)
First of all, please remember that possessive pronouns like its do not have apostrophes.
Secondly, yes, he is referring to the questions he wants people to answer. I would suggest you do your best to copyedit the passage and then add a query to the author.
(Q5) In "1. Library Subscriptions," the author writes, "group deal offerings to libraries." I am not sure what that means, would it be alright to say "by offering group deals to libraries." I found it difficult to revise this business letter because it required a bit of knowledge on literary journals, marketing, and subscriptions. I know the author is trying to promote his foundation by showing all the ways he can help literary journals, but I wish I still can't figure out what he's trying to say in some parts.
First of all, please note that alright should be all right.
Secondly, your revision sounds fine to me.
I think that the letter, as filled with personality and goodwill as it is, did not get the response the folks at Dzanc were hoping for because it is, as I said in class, (1) too informal for its intended audience and (2) unclear and imprecise in several places.
You will often be asked to copyedit material that you have no training in or formal knowledge of. That is one of copyediting's greatest challenges: to use your knowledge in a formal and logical way to serve the work and its readers. I was once a copyeditor for a research center at the UH, and I was able, after trying to overcome such fears as yours, to copyedit research reports, journal articles, and conference papers produced by scientists in water research. I don't doubt that you can do the same :)
(Q6) In "2. Event Planning," I copyedited the sentence to, "More and more book festivals are popping up every year; often, we know the organizers." Is the O of often supposed to be capitalized? Also, I wasn't sure what KIND of successes they've seen with these events, so I deleted that sentence.
Ack, no! Please don't ever capitalize the first word after a semicolon.
It's OK to delete the sentence, but I need to ask if my copyediting of that passage did not help you.
(Q7) 3. Readings. What are reading series? Is that just another term for reading nights? What variations is he talking about? Does he mean variations of those reading nights? Also, would you consider, "2 to 4 of their authors" and "three or four journals" as estimates? (I remember you said that you should spell out numbers if they are estimates or not critical to the meaning of the passage. Or would consistency rule, such that I should just spell out all the numbers?)
Reading series are series of readings. For example, the English department has a series of readings that are held at lunchtime and feature the work of poets in Hawai‘i. Because they are continuing and periodic, the readings constitute a series. Reading series can have different formats: one important writer reading his latest work; several writers published by one journal or press reading the work just published; two winners of a recent competition reading their award-winning work; and so forth.
And yes, please spell out the numbers in this case.
(Q8) 5. Advertising. Dzanc Books want to drive for lower rates, and help with layouts. Does that mean they want to market group rates, and help with advertisement layouts?
Yes; again, the hastily composed text will drive many people away—instead of toward—Dzanc.
(Q9) 7. Litblogs. For the first time, the author mentions Dan. Who is Dan? Do I ask the author who Dan (and Steve) is? Or do I just write, "Dan, the founder of Dzanc Books," AND query the author?
The latter is preferable, I think.
(Q10) 8. Anthology. Do they mean that they will be accepting nominations, from participating journals, for works to be put into the anthology?
Yes, from journals who work with them. Note the use of the restrictive clause: it is deliberate, i.e., meant to make it clear to everyone that only a certain group of editors and publishers will appear in the anthologies.
(Q11) Question # 16. Are they asking the renewal rate for their subscribers?
Yes, Dzanc wants to know how many subscribers, of the total number, renew their subscriptions.
(Q1) Do we hand in the test with our copyediting marks, the final revision with no copyediting marks, or both?
The first: you are being graded on the way you make and use your copyediting marks.
(Q2) The greeting says, "Hello again editors of literary journals." Are we to assume that this letter is a sent mass e-mail? Are we to treat greetings and salutations like headers, where we capitalize certain words?
Please see the back of the version of test 1 with my editing marks; it has, as I pointed out in class, a follow-up e-mail message from Dzanc Books. You will see by reading it who the intended audience for the text of test 2 is.
Actually, the salutation says, "Hello again, Editors of Literary Journals." I suggested to Davis and Moon Yun that they look online for guidelines for the composition of business letters. One of my main reasons for doing this was to get them to focus on the salutation, which is not in the correct form.
(Q3) Are contractions appropriate in business (or any formal) letters? For example, in the second paragraph, "...how we'll go about getting all of the above plans into motion...."
It depends on what is being asked and whom it is being asked of. A personal letter to you from the White House—or, say, a printed invitation to a formal wedding—would probably not have any contractions. In this case, I would say it's all right to use them.
(Q4) I did not understand what the author meant by "want[ing] to pick the brains of the people who have been out on the front lines." When you do not understand an author's meaning, do you still copyedit the sentence, or do you query the author about it's meaning? (I just deleted that part of the sentence because it sounded informal. Plus, if my assumptions are correct, then he is referring to the questions portion of the e-mail.)
First of all, please remember that possessive pronouns like its do not have apostrophes.
Secondly, yes, he is referring to the questions he wants people to answer. I would suggest you do your best to copyedit the passage and then add a query to the author.
(Q5) In "1. Library Subscriptions," the author writes, "group deal offerings to libraries." I am not sure what that means, would it be alright to say "by offering group deals to libraries." I found it difficult to revise this business letter because it required a bit of knowledge on literary journals, marketing, and subscriptions. I know the author is trying to promote his foundation by showing all the ways he can help literary journals, but I wish I still can't figure out what he's trying to say in some parts.
First of all, please note that alright should be all right.
Secondly, your revision sounds fine to me.
I think that the letter, as filled with personality and goodwill as it is, did not get the response the folks at Dzanc were hoping for because it is, as I said in class, (1) too informal for its intended audience and (2) unclear and imprecise in several places.
You will often be asked to copyedit material that you have no training in or formal knowledge of. That is one of copyediting's greatest challenges: to use your knowledge in a formal and logical way to serve the work and its readers. I was once a copyeditor for a research center at the UH, and I was able, after trying to overcome such fears as yours, to copyedit research reports, journal articles, and conference papers produced by scientists in water research. I don't doubt that you can do the same :)
(Q6) In "2. Event Planning," I copyedited the sentence to, "More and more book festivals are popping up every year; often, we know the organizers." Is the O of often supposed to be capitalized? Also, I wasn't sure what KIND of successes they've seen with these events, so I deleted that sentence.
Ack, no! Please don't ever capitalize the first word after a semicolon.
It's OK to delete the sentence, but I need to ask if my copyediting of that passage did not help you.
(Q7) 3. Readings. What are reading series? Is that just another term for reading nights? What variations is he talking about? Does he mean variations of those reading nights? Also, would you consider, "2 to 4 of their authors" and "three or four journals" as estimates? (I remember you said that you should spell out numbers if they are estimates or not critical to the meaning of the passage. Or would consistency rule, such that I should just spell out all the numbers?)
Reading series are series of readings. For example, the English department has a series of readings that are held at lunchtime and feature the work of poets in Hawai‘i. Because they are continuing and periodic, the readings constitute a series. Reading series can have different formats: one important writer reading his latest work; several writers published by one journal or press reading the work just published; two winners of a recent competition reading their award-winning work; and so forth.
And yes, please spell out the numbers in this case.
(Q8) 5. Advertising. Dzanc Books want to drive for lower rates, and help with layouts. Does that mean they want to market group rates, and help with advertisement layouts?
Yes; again, the hastily composed text will drive many people away—instead of toward—Dzanc.
(Q9) 7. Litblogs. For the first time, the author mentions Dan. Who is Dan? Do I ask the author who Dan (and Steve) is? Or do I just write, "Dan, the founder of Dzanc Books," AND query the author?
The latter is preferable, I think.
(Q10) 8. Anthology. Do they mean that they will be accepting nominations, from participating journals, for works to be put into the anthology?
Yes, from journals who work with them. Note the use of the restrictive clause: it is deliberate, i.e., meant to make it clear to everyone that only a certain group of editors and publishers will appear in the anthologies.
(Q11) Question # 16. Are they asking the renewal rate for their subscribers?
Yes, Dzanc wants to know how many subscribers, of the total number, renew their subscriptions.
is the list format a style choice?
Last minute question: I was wondering about the list of the things Dzanc is planning on doing. Do we move it to align with the rest of the text (on the first page of the letter) and over to the left on the following page or is it okay to leave it indented? And, if we do need to move it, do we use the marks for align or for flush left? Does it even matter or is it the copyeditor's choice of style? Personally, I like to think that it looks okay as it is, but that's probably just me being lazy and not wanting to make a decision about how to put in the editing marks. I just don't know if it needs to be moved or not, since Pat moved it, but we've already discussed how we don't need to copy all of her editing marks.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Final Markings
I think someone asked this in class, but does the final version of our test need to be marked with a red pencil or a pen? I'm trying to use a red pencil, but I'm finding it hard to erase and make corrections when I make mistakes.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Test 2 Questions
I have a bunch of questions…
Do I need to write in the “bf” mark in the margin for boldface, or would a wavy line suffice? Also Pat used the “tr” mark for transposing (on the second page of the first test), but is the mark necessary?
Do I have a choice to include the serial comma or omit it? I think this decision depends on which style manual I use, but, since I have no particular style manual this time, can I choose to retain or omit the serial comma if I stay consistent?
If I choose to retain the serial comma, would I have to place the comma every time I use the word “and”? For instance, would I need a comma in a simple phrase like, “She is nice and smart”? Or should the sentence be, “She is nice, and smart”?
Is it assumed that the receivers of this e-mail message know who Dan and Steve are? It seems informal to mention such names unless the parties involved are aware of who they are.
What is the copyediting mark for making an e-mail address hyperlinked?
Should we specifically write “Au:…” when we query the author to distinguish the query from the instructions for the typesetter?
Is “litblog coop” an organization? Should the name be capitalized?
Pat mentioned in class that putting an exclamation mark after an understood statement, such as “library subscriptions have close to 100% renewal rate,” indicates a lack of professionalism. Should we advice the author to refrain from using the mark?
I’m afraid this question might repeat what Davis and Moon Yun had already asked, but are we penalized every time we make the same marking as Pat had done in the first test? Should we come up with our own markings even when we feel that Pat’s markings seem to be doing exactly what we want? Of course, I’m not saying that we should just copy everything…
Do I need to write in the “bf” mark in the margin for boldface, or would a wavy line suffice? Also Pat used the “tr” mark for transposing (on the second page of the first test), but is the mark necessary?
Do I have a choice to include the serial comma or omit it? I think this decision depends on which style manual I use, but, since I have no particular style manual this time, can I choose to retain or omit the serial comma if I stay consistent?
If I choose to retain the serial comma, would I have to place the comma every time I use the word “and”? For instance, would I need a comma in a simple phrase like, “She is nice and smart”? Or should the sentence be, “She is nice, and smart”?
Is it assumed that the receivers of this e-mail message know who Dan and Steve are? It seems informal to mention such names unless the parties involved are aware of who they are.
What is the copyediting mark for making an e-mail address hyperlinked?
Should we specifically write “Au:…” when we query the author to distinguish the query from the instructions for the typesetter?
Is “litblog coop” an organization? Should the name be capitalized?
Pat mentioned in class that putting an exclamation mark after an understood statement, such as “library subscriptions have close to 100% renewal rate,” indicates a lack of professionalism. Should we advice the author to refrain from using the mark?
I’m afraid this question might repeat what Davis and Moon Yun had already asked, but are we penalized every time we make the same marking as Pat had done in the first test? Should we come up with our own markings even when we feel that Pat’s markings seem to be doing exactly what we want? Of course, I’m not saying that we should just copy everything…
to strike or not to strike?
You mentioned in class that we should not strike out too much of the original text, but savage passages with corrections. You also said that we can use your marks on test #1 to guide us along. I noticed that you did strike out sentences and paragraphs from the text on test #1. So, can I also strike out similar sentences and paragraphs as shown on test #1, or should I just focus on correcting the grammar and puntuations and leave the content alone?
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Correction similarity
My comment is similar to Moon Yun's in that I'm referring to our first test quite a bit. Mostly because when I make a correction to the test, I immediately realize that I'm making the same marks and corrections that the first test had. I know my subconscious is at work here, because when I come across a sentence, I know from the previous test what word might improve the over-all flow. More often than not it's the same word, or the same striking of multiple words.
Personally, I have a huge fear about accidental/unintentional plagiarism. I think that's why I have such a strong interest in copyediting in the first place. It's very hard to plagiarize sentence corrections, fixes to grammar, and spelling suggestions. However at this point in time I am panicking just a little because I realize it may be possible to plagiarize copyediting marks too!
Personally, I have a huge fear about accidental/unintentional plagiarism. I think that's why I have such a strong interest in copyediting in the first place. It's very hard to plagiarize sentence corrections, fixes to grammar, and spelling suggestions. However at this point in time I am panicking just a little because I realize it may be possible to plagiarize copyediting marks too!
Oversimplified?
(from Moon Yun)
I did the test today (1st run) and I'm boggled by the oversimplification of the test. I just used the last test as a guide (per your suggestion) and I basically followed your markings. That cannot be what we're assigned to do. Am I missing something?
I did the test today (1st run) and I'm boggled by the oversimplification of the test. I just used the last test as a guide (per your suggestion) and I basically followed your markings. That cannot be what we're assigned to do. Am I missing something?
Monday, February 12, 2007
Test #1
Is it OK to ask a question about test #1? On the third page, in the ninth section on databases, why is the comma struck? I dwelled on that very spot a few times during the week before the test was due. I thought the "and" was being inserted with a caret. Perhaps someone can help me understand the symbol that was given and why the comma needed to be taken out. Thanks.
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