SOLSCMarch 13: A Boring Day

             I agreed to do a couple of extra days of copyediting for Publishers Weekly, today and tomorrow. This means I sat in front of my computer for most of four and a half hours, reading 15 reviews of forthcoming books and a feature about small publishers who did really well during the past three years.

            I learned that Natalie Goldberg has a new book out this summer on what she doesn’t want to call “writer’s block.” She titles it “Writing on Empty.” Also a book about how life came to be on Earth, including the suggestion that kelp forests (in the ocean?) could work to capture carbon from the atmosphere. Interesting. The feature was mostly biz info—how much sales had increased, what books were leading those sales, etc.—so I like being able to help the writing be less repetitive, but I’m not that interested in what the story is about. Though it is encouraging that these small presses are still doing well after the first two years of the pandemic sent book sales way up.

-------------------------------------

I’m participating in the 17th annual Slice of Life Challenge over at Two Writing Teachers. This is day 13 of the 31-day challenge.  It’s not too late to make space for daily writing in a community that is encouraging, enthusiastic, and eager to read what you have to slice about.  Join in!

 

SOLSC March 27: Is it two words, hyphenated, or oneword?

            I’m a semiretired copy editor, and it sometimes seems that I spend half my time looking up whether a term is two (or more) words, hyphenated, or one word. There are some rules (e.g., the third word in this post has a prefix—“semi”—and most style guides say that “semi” is always closed up, creating one word). But often, all we have to do is go to the dictionary.

            Today I looked up the following words and terms:

bandleader: yes, one word

heavy-handed: yes, hyphenated

dancefloor: no, two words (dance floor)

longsuffering: no, needs a hyphen (long-suffering)

anti-poverty: no, see above about prefixes (antipoverty)

out of reach recipes: okay, “out of reach” is not in the dictionary

behind-the-scenes look: okay, “behind-the-scenes” is in the dictionary

            There’s also the issue of adverbs and adjectives, and judgment calls. For instance, “bookstore” is one word in the dictionary. But what is a “used bookstore”? A bookstore that’s been used? or a bookstore for used books? Perhaps “used-book store” makes the meaning clear.

            But is the hyphen needed here? much-needed help? I don’t think so.

            And any adverb ending in –ly never needs to be connected to an adjective. Today I removed the hyphen from “overly-conversational.”

-------------------------------------

I’m participating in the 16th annual Slice of Life Challenge over at Two Writing Teachers. This is day 27 of the 31-day challenge.  It’s not too late to make space for daily writing in a community that is encouraging, enthusiastic, and eager to read what you have to slice about.  Join in!

SOL Tuesday: My Day

I may have mentioned that the trade magazine I freelance for is having its 150th anniversary this year, and it is putting together a special issue, for which I am doing all the copyediting, as well as trafficking every story through the production process in a timely fashion.

            We’re in the closing section this week, as have the 272 pages have to go to the printer next Monday and the rest next Tuesday. So I spent all of today in the office, reading captions and pull quotes, cleaning up text files, notifying the art department what was ready for them. Noticing little details, like a cross-reference in one article to another article that may actually not be relevant, or questioning whether three sets of ellipses in a pull quote are really necessary.

            I am grateful when an editor or author says, “fine with me,” when I make a suggestion.

            Now I have to go to bed. More to do tomorrow.

-------------------------------------

It’s Slice of Life Tuesday over at Two Writing Teachers. Check out this encouraging and enthusiastic writing community and their slices of life every Tuesday. And add one of your own.

 

SOLSC 8: A Workday Poem

Tied to her laptop

The copy editor addresses language.

How to gracefully ID a writer

Whose first book has the same title

As his blog.

How to spell Uyghurs (or Uighurs).

Should she leave that list of names

In all caps,

Or normal upper and lower case?

Which version of the story she was sent

Is the one she should work on?

After an hour of work,

She takes a break,

Goes for a walk,

Stops for a Covid test,

Just in case.

 

-------------------------------------

I’m participating in the 15th annual Slice of Life Challenge over at Two Writing Teachers. This is day 8 of the 31-day challenge.  It’s not too late to make space for daily writing in a community that is encouraging, enthusiastic, and eager to read what you have to slice about.  Join in!

 

 

SOLTuesday: Why I Love Copyediting

I’m still free-lance copyediting on occasion. The magazine I was working for today gave me a collection of fiction reviews to copyedit. And sure enough, there was a historical novel whose reviewer was a bit hazy on historical fact.

            The reviewer says the novel is set in “Nazi and Fascist-occupied Venice, Italy, in 1945, just weeks before Italy’s surrender to the Allies.” Well, Italy surrendered to the Allies in 1943, so is this novel set in 1943 or 1945? After the Fascist Italian government surrendered, Nazi Germany invaded, and there might well have also been Italian Fascists in Nazi-occupied Venice, but I don't think one could say the Fascists were "occupying" an Italian city. And if it’s set in I945, then it’s just weeks before Germany’s surrender.

            A little fact-checking shows the book is set in 1945, so I know how to correct the review. And I feel like I have earned my pay for the day.