A Beginner's Guide to Copyediting | Part Two

In the last part of this series, we talked about the general parameters of copyediting as a job, style guides, and a little bit on freelancing. If you haven't read that part, check it out here: A Beginner's Guide to Copyediting | Part One

This time, we're going to talk about copyediting marks and when/how to query an author during copyediting. This post is a lot more practical in its application, and these are the skills that you'll be using to actually edit.

Now, it must be said, copyediting marks are only used if the publishing house you're working for still edits with physical manuscripts. If it is digital, there will be other protocols for editing that can include anything from using track changes on Microsoft Word, using the commenting feature on Adobe Acrobat, and commenting or suggesting on Google Docs. That will be specified by the house upon hiring, and when doing that, you just make the necessary changes using the specified tool. Any time you want to query, you'll just add it as a comment.

This displays track changes in Microsoft Word.

So what is querying? Querying is an important part of copyediting, because it is communicating through worded comments rather than copyediting marks that typically concern things like tone, voice, logic, or fact versus fable.

Let's break that down a little bit further. Say you're reading a piece that is written conversationally for a magazine that has a light tone and talks about culture and entertainment in real-time. Everything is in line, and then there is a sentence with high vocabulary and cultural theory that sounds stilted compared to the rest of the piece. In that situation, you might have ideas of words and expressions that would better communicate the meaning of the sentence without affecting the tone. But, your job is to edit, not to write the article, so rather than making the change with copyediting marks, you would query something along the lines of "These ideas come across as a little bit elevated as is. Perhaps use the words..." and then insert your suggestion.

It's important that you explain why you think it might be a problem, and it's also important that you phrase your query in a way that makes it seem collaborative rather than harsh. An author who feels that their work is being attacked won't react well, and that could lead to them complaining to your employer, making business harder, or simply rejecting the edits because of wounded egos. This is never an easy line to toe, however it is a really important thing to be aware of.

Beyond tone or vocabulary, you'll typically want to query something that reads as illogical. This would be working more on a novel where there is supposed to be a logic to the world, plot, etc. or on a more academic piece. If a conclusion is made, or something happens that doesn't follow the logic of the rest of the piece, it is your job to point that out.

A query on something like this would be a little bit more questioning in nature. You can add suggestions of what you think would make more sense, but your main objective here would be to ask the author the questions you have about the logic. When going through and approving edits, they can read where the confusion is and make the necessary changes, or add a sentence substantiating the jump in logic. Either way, this is very important for author credibility.

Sometimes when fact checking, something is undeniable (like the date that a world war started). Other times, however, there are things that you cannot corroborate with your information like the spelling of a person's name or a description of an old town. You'll need to query this outright rather to bring it to the attention of the author.

Here, the key is to not overdo it. If you know for a fact something is wrong, simply change it with a deletion mark and a caret. Only query when you suspect something is incorrect, or you tried and cannot find the information online.

For any of the queries, the comment should be written with the mark "Q:" or "Qu:" preceding the comment in the margins of the text. This looks the same digitally and in print.

Now, for the rest of copyediting marks, what do they look like?

Here's a handy sheet:

These are pretty standard across the publishing industry. You'll use these within the actual text to communicate what needs to change. If the author approves these edits, these marks will be sent to a typesetter to make the necessary changes, so it's imperative that they're accurate and very clearly written.

The only thing that won't go directly in the text is something like "stet," which as you see is circled. Any word/abbreviation that is written out and circled goes in the margin next to the line where the change is being made.

To indicate what copyedit you are reversing, you would just put ..... under the word that was edited with the "stet" in the margin.

What I want to end this post with is a reiteration of my earlier point about how to address the author. In any query, email, or author letter in which you are making changes, you have to keep the tone cordial and respectful.

But you also have to ensure that it doesn't become overly reverent. You can compliment where things are done very well, but your job is not to boost the author's ego. Do not shower them in compliments, or try to be overly nice before you make an edit so that it is received well. Simply ensure that you are suggesting and being collaborative.

In other words, you don't want to say, "This word makes you sound pretentious, change it," but you also don't want to go too far the other way with something like: "You're vocabulary is stunning and it's so impressive how smart you are, but I think here a different word could work."

You want the sweet spot in between there. Something closer to: "As is, the sentence makes sense, but to keep the tone of the magazine and the piece, you might want to consider using a different word such as..."

That way, you are being respectful, but still getting your change across without going too far in either direction.

All of this being said, this is the true meat and potatoes of copyediting. What you'll spend most of your time doing is using these marks and queries to make the changes, and sometimes you'll compile a letter after the fact detailing what you did and some larger changes that the author could consider making that you didn't mark.

Being well-versed in these marks and in this communicative style is imperative for any successful copyeditor.

In the next part of this series, I'll dive into proofreading, some of the trickier grammatical topics such as who/whom, number formatting with different style manuals, and how to make your own personal style sheets. It will be out Monday, April 6, 2020 at noon!

Make sure to leave a comment if you have any further questions, I'm always around to help!

The Power of Words

As someone who spends a lot of their time immersed in the world of words, sometimes I lose a grip on why I love it so much. It's not that I lose hope in words, or that I fall out of love with language, it's that I become so blind to what I'm doing and so exhausted from constant work, that sometimes I forget about the spark that ignites in me whenever I read or write.

Now, from being in this community for a long time, I know that's not particularly uncommon. And frankly, we all need breaks from things we do a lot, even if we love them. Hence reading slumps, writer's block, etc. But sometimes, after long months of being uninspired, in rare moments when the cosmos seem to bleed together and brew the perfect moment, you're reminded just of why words are so powerful.

For me this happened a few weeks ago. It was a grey day, the first chill of autumn creeping into the air. I'd been slowly chugging my way through "Big Magic" by Elizabeth Gilbert, and on this day I was possessed by an inexplicable desire to devour it. So I sat down in a free hour I had and sped through the ending of the book. Upon finishing it, my eyes were wide, my heart was pounding, and every thought of mine was refocused back to writing.

It had been a long time since I'd been so inspired. Her writing is beautiful, of course, and her metaphors are masterful, but she also has that magic that she writes about. Her words carry with them a preternatural ability to move you, to get you out of your worries and fears and onto the computer to get writing, or acting, or whatever it is you love and want to pursue.

As she urged the reader, "So please calm down now and get back to work, okay? The treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you will say yes," I felt electric, like I'd been struck with the brilliance and the magic of the world upon which us writers and readers operate.

But I couldn't sit and stew on this moment. I couldn't revel in the energy that coursed through me, or jump on the train of adrenaline that was making my fingers itch to write. I'd bought tickets to see Porsha Olayiwola perform "Black and Ugly As Ever," and it was time for me to leave.

So, still radiating the creativity that Gilbert had instilled, I hopped on the train and shot over to see Olayiwola's performance. And needless to say, it was incredible. As she whisked us through her life, her experiences, and the flaws in our culture, I felt that energy in me heightening. It didn't fizzle, or drain out as sometimes happens when you let it sit. Instead, it grew, multiplying and spawning something I hadn't felt in a long time.

As Olayiwola stood before a crammed club and bellowed, "I'm so black I'm not alive, just not buried yet" and "Every time I twirled my afro out, I knew I was some kind of rebellion," I felt the energy in the room crackling.

My world was flowing and ebbing, the fibers of my brain coming undone and forging themselves anew. See, it is rare moments like that where the power of words becomes so apparent, so intense that it overwhelms you, that it seems to beat in every breath in the sweaty room, seems to twine with the stars and sing in the streets. It is not every day that you feel so intensely, so powerfully about how much words mean and the command they hold. Experiences like those are fleeting, blessings in a way. And I couldn't be more grateful.

You see, I was in a slump, dawdling in an unmotivated state. I hadn't written in weeks, I was barely getting through novels. I felt like I was drowning in work, and the world was starting to look more and more bland.

But words are more powerful than that. They are sometimes wretched and cruel, but they are powerful. And when you need them most, they sweep through and remind you just why you love them so much.

So if you are in the position I was in just a few weeks ago—feeling uninspired, not good enough, lost, or dazed—then let this be my beckon to you. Re-immerse yourself in the world of words. Don't give up, don't lose yourself now.

Keep chipping away at that novel you're reading, write a little bit every day, even if you have to gut the words out of yourself. Because I promise, you'll get your moment as well. You won't be uninspired forever.

As long as you keep trying, inspiration will strike again, and you'll remember awe-inspiring power of words for whatever reason it was.

And once they do, you'll be unstoppable.

"Where Things Come Back" | Book Review

**Includes spoilers**

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I finished "Where Things Come Back" by John Whaley, and I have to say I didn't have many expectations coming into this book. And I have to admit, I was pretty satisfied with the end of the book.

We begin our story in Lily, Arkansas, following seventeen-year-old, Cullen Witter. I have to admit, at the beginning, I was worried I would only find this book average, because Cullen is just that: average. Yes, I related to him because his sort of outside qualities in a mainstream world, and his love for writing, but he just seemed to be your average, slightly whiny teenager. As the plot progresses, Gabriel, Cullen's brother mysteriously disappears.

This is the point where I grew more interested. Personally, I've read my share of love and loss stories, but his close relationship with his brother enhanced this one particularly. The reader begins to feel for Cullen because his ties with his brother are so strong—in other words, Whaley has made the reader fully understand why Cullen feels the way he does, and we begin to feel it ourselves. It was here when his character got interesting to me. It was here that I began to read more closely, and found myself with a strong desire to continue the story. The plot, from here on, is actually fairly little—mostly, we cover the emotional ramifications of a loss, and the way people must deal with that—but to be honest, this was the most interesting part. Where Cullen was normal, we begin to see the weird intricacies of his brain, and understand the underlying and undying strange in him that makes him so much more real.

It is because of this fascinating character development and fresh take on dealing with the loss of a loved one that kept the intrigue up, because when Gabriel finally did get back, I'd been expecting it the whole time (I mean, hello, the title is, "Where Things Come Back"), but at that point I was no longer invested in the plot, but more in the emotional arcs.

This brings me to my next point on characters: our theology story. I found it interesting in the beginning because it was so different, but I have to admit, I found it tiring after so long to read about the crazed sacerdotal lust both characters in the third person narrative fell into. And to be honest, their role in the story was predictable at best. No, he wouldn't include a second storyline just to spice things up—I could easily anticipate they played some role in Gabriel's disappearance, and I'd had that bit figured out from the moment I started it.

But was it still rewarding when the estranged plots finally wove together into one nice bow? Yes. It was. Despite being able to predict it, it added the bit of action needed to finish off this purely emotional, semi-depressing story (as Whaley calls it).

Now, onto the other characters. I liked them, but I didn't love them. I sort of felt the same way as I did with Cullen at the beginning, except I didn't feel like they developed and progressed into the introspective and inherently peculiar character Cullen did. Sure, they were enjoyable to read about, with Lucas and Mena's love affair, and their friendship for Cullen being a nice addition, but could I have read the story without them and not felt the lack? It's possible.

This was the reason I wasn't fully against the characters—despite a few flaws, Lucas, Mena, Cullen, and Gabriel pulled together to make an overall interesting story, which is good for such a character-driven book.

I think my ultimate thoughts, though, revolve around that which I'd already touched on. The interesting style and beautiful portrayal of emotion in a way that isn't as washed out as many other books are is what made this worth it for me. The depth of analysis of his emotion, and the rawness of that emotion is the main reason I would recommend this book—it's not a thriller, it's not plot-driven, and it's not particularly intellectual (though it's not dumb in any way); it's a character book; it's an emotional book.

And don't worry—it's not an overwhelmingly negative book: "I can't seem to be a pessimist long enough to overlook the possibility of things being overwhelmingly good."

That bout sums up the book for me; both poignant and warm; both dark and light; both sad and happy.

Ratings:
Characters: 80%
Plot: 70%
Depth: 100%
Style: 100%
Intrigue: 80%

Overall Grade: B

Fear

I figured I'd start my first blog post on the topic that everyone of us experiences at some point in our lives—that I am experiencing right now as I craft my very first entry into a world of blogging that I know so little about.

But, what do I know about fear, you ask?

In truth, I know little more than the next guy about the neurology behind fear; what I know of the treacherous emotion is that which I have experienced. I'm an aspiring author—someone who has worked day after day, slaving away at perfecting my words on the page, chasing the ever-elusive art of writing.

In no way to do I claim to be an expert, or an old and wise soul, but it's something I grapple with daily, as everyone does.

And I think the more I struggle with it, the more I spend time wondering about the future, about writing, about my dreams and how possible they are, I've decided that it is one of the most debilitating emotions.

It tugs at the heart, eats at the mind and taints the soul. I've heard story after story from friends, family members, or someone with an online presence where pure penitence laces the words as they speak of something they let go due to fear.

The older I get, the more I have to make decisions about the future, the more this feeling seems to affect me, and it dawned on me the other day that the very reason I can't stop thinking about fear instilling loss is fear itself; I am afraid to let fear govern my life and my decisions.

It's ironic, I know, yet there I sat, basking in fear at the concept. So what did I do?

I used it.

Yes, fear is pesky, devitalizing, and prostrate. But at the same time, it can be the most useful tool of any, the very sustenance one needs to finish their project, or run that final stretch, for fear makes manics of us all.

Once you can take a step back from the emotion, really examine what you're afraid of, evaluate the pros and the cons, fear can be your greatest weapon.

I know it sounds far too pragmatic to be realistic. So here's what you should do: Take a few breaths. Maybe step away from whatever it is, be it a project, a job offer, a friend, the future. Try to stop thinking about it for a bit, give yourself some time, and then revisit it with a fresh lens. Maybe your fear will be gone, or maybe you'll be ready to confront it better.

This leads me to the next step: Confront the fear. Don't beat around the bush, don't pretend like you aren't afraid. Fear is human. Fear is good. Acknowledge it. Think about what might be causing it, then confront it. Walk yourself through it. Question if what the fear makes you think is rational, or if they are entirely contrived from that fear.

The moment that you acknowledge your fear is the moment you can begin to harnass it, and then use it.

What was once your what held back your pen is now the very ink that you write with. So fight the fear. Use it. Damn it to hell. No matter what, just don't put down that pen.