ENC3212: An Overview
Now that the final days of this course are here I have decided to take a look back at what I have learned. To do this in a way that may be helpful in the future, I have created a review of key ideas and concepts.
Copyediting 3212 Overview:
Hyphens and Compounds
Compound Adjectives: not found in dictionary, more of a choice of style. Happen where you combine two or more words (usually nouns) to act like adjectives.
Examples: “do-nothing congress” “money-back guarantee” “state-of-the-art” “award-winning” “college-educated”
Punctuation
+Clauses
A clause is a group of related words that includes both a subject + finite verb.
Independent Clauses: Cannot stand alone as a complete sentence
Dependent clauses: can stand alone as a complete sentence
Dependent clauses –restrictive vs non-restrictive
+Sentence structure
-A subject is the do-er of a verb.
-Finite verb forms show tense, person and number (I go, she goes, we went, etc.):
She was waiting in the room before he came in. Does your brother know my brother? Aren’t you a bit late?
-Non-finite verb forms do not show tense, person or number. Typically they are infinitive forms with and without to (e.g. to go, go), -ing forms and -ed forms (e.g. going, gone):
She tiptoed round the house so as not to wake anyone. You need to paint the whole cupboard, starting from the bottom.
Joining Clauses
+Commas, semicolons, colons and dashes can all be used to join two indepdent clauses to form a compound sentence. There are four types of choices for what puncation to use to bond.
1) X, coordinate conjuction, X
2) X; adverb, X
3)X; transitional expression,
4)X;X or X:X (where X is independent clauses that can be directly connected)
1) Coordinate Conjuctions – and, but, for, nor, so, yet
2) Joined by adverbs – however, indeed, moreover, nevertheless, therefore, thus
3)Transitional expression – for example, in addition, namely
Ways to Repair Run On Sentences
Replacing commas with semicolons, adding a conjuction after each comma, punucate the independent clauses as separate sentences, transform all but one of the indepdent clauses into dependent ones.
Word choice/ Tone / Meaning
+Denotation vs Connotation
Denotation (think D for Dictionary): the literal, dictionary meaning
Connotation: cloud of feeling, meaning and associations that come with the word. Can be either positive, negative or neutral.
Example: affluent (well off but not negative) vs filthy rich (buying extravagant things, arrogance)
Organization
+ Overall structure should be dictated by the piece’s purpose
+For a book: observe the table of contents, opening and ending paragraph of each chapter
+Article: headings and subheadings
+Short essay: opening sentences of each paragraph
+Alert the author of larger problems in structure and revise the smaller ones yourself
+Forms of Organization in Longer Texts: Alphabetical, Chronological (historical, biographical, memoirs, step by step), Numerical, Spatial (geographical, fashion), Degree of difficulty, system by system (social systems, medical book)
+Forms of Organization in Shorter Texts: compare/contrast, observations/predictions, problem/solution
Emphasis
+Major points should be emphasized via where they are located and how long they are.
+Detours from main points, extraneous information or weak arguments should be revised or removed
Signposting and Cross Referencing
+Sometimes it is helpful as a copy editor to suggest to cross reference back to a point in text that helps the current one make more sense
+Oher times, you need to ask the author to refer less to what is before or ahead if it gets confusing
Style
+Diction: Make sure that the words being used match the style and type of writing that is being used.
+Jargon: Some jargon can be used if in something specifically made for those who understand it. But be weary of jargon like acronyms that may need to be spelled out to be understood.
+Deadwood: some words are bulky and have nothing to add to the text.
+Redundancies: close proximity, final outcome, major breakthrough, past history, serious danger, total annihilation, etc.
+Circumlocutions: a large portion of (=many), are in possession of (=have), at this point in time (=now), in spite of the fact that (=although), in this day and age (=today) etc.
+Clichés
+Verbs: Muscle of a sentence. Need to be strong.
+Passive Voice: passive is okay when the do-er in the sentence is unknown or unimportant (each panelist was identified by institutional affiliation) or when the activity is more important than the performer (hundreds of dead seabirds were sighted near the oil spill).
+Variety (don’t let it sound like a thesaurus, don’t let it get monotonous)
+Sentence Length
+Transitions: you can use a transitional phrase to connect (further, first, next, similarly, in contrast, yet, alternatively, as a result, for this reason). You can also use repetition as a transition (reusing words that connect main ideas).
+Paragraphing: considering how it should be broken up.
+Cadence: rhythm of the work, how it flows
Essential Books
-Dictionary: provides spelling, irregular forms, scientific names, translations, guidelines (capitalization, pronunciations, etc)
-Style Manuals: APA, MLA, AP, Chicago, Words into Type
-Thesaurus
-APA: structured to include four major sections: Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References.
-MLA: used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.
-AP (associated press): a writing style guide used by news publications and magazines.
-CHICAGO: Sometimes referred to as the "editors' bible," a style guide commonly used in the publishing field.
Abbreviations, Acronyms and Symbols
- Abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols are shortcuts that help authors save space.
+Abbreviations
-Mr., Mrs. and Ms. never spelled out when precede a name
-Military and political are abbreviated before a FULL name (Gen, Lt, Rep, Sen, Dr) but abbreviated if last name provided
-US and UN never spelled out
-Latin Abbreviations: (etc., e.g., i.e.) im references and footnotes
Etc: and so on, et cetera
E.g.: For example
I.e.: that is
- Some publishers only allow common Latin abbreviations (e.g., etc., i.e.) to appear in parenthetical references and footnotes. When this is the case, the editor is expected to eliminate the abbreviation or substitute it.
+Acronyms
-Used for corporations, high tech products, well known phrases (RIP)
+Signs
- Dollar signs ($), percentage signs in technical and financial documents (%), ampersand in companies (&)
Editing for Design/Format
+Type coding
-Refers to editing chapter titles, type face, type size, etc.
-Following specs provided by a designer
-Shortcuts for these are in Latin
+Back matter: appendixes, notes, glossary, bibliography, index
-First sentence of definition should be concise sentence fragment that captures the general idea. Any sentences that follow
-Make sure there is a blank line before the first entry with a b, with a c, etc.
-Alphabetize, capitalize, cross reference
-Variants in editorial style happen in three categories: mechanics, formatting and documentation
-Mechanics: abbreviations, acronyms, capitalizations, contractions, punctuation
-Formatting: cross references, lists
-Documentation: in text citations, footnotes or endnotes
Copy Editing Basics: What a Copy Editor Does
-Mechanical editing (punctuation, spelling, capitalization, etc.)
-Correlating parts (checking footnotes, cross references, table of contents)
-Language Editing (grammar and diction)
-Content Editing (making sure it’s factual)
+Light, Medium and Heavy Edits
-These terms are used to signal how much time and attention to give certain parts of what needs to be edited
-Base what qualifies as light, heavy or medium based on the quality of writing, intended audience, schedule and budget, author’s reputation.
+Querying
-A question, comment or explanation to the author
-Be careful with tone and overuse of queries. Pose each as a suggestion/question to the author.
Style Guides
-APA: structured to include four major sections: Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References.
-MLA: used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.
-AP (associated press): a writing style guide used by news publications and magazines.
-CHICAGO: Sometimes referred to as the "editors' bible," a style guide commonly used in the publishing field.
Editing for Documentation (References and Citations)
Author may use different ways of citing sources based on audience, field, number of citations
+Author Date System
-Source is cited in running text
-Includes author, year of publication, page
British usage blah blah (Smith, 1992, 129)
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