What Goes Around, Comes Around

A number of months ago, I despaired of my daughter ever understanding my love of writing--much less following in my footsteps along the writing road.

Sure, Christa loves to read. She even pens the occasional 9-year-old novel, complete with heroes and heroines, conflicts and happily-ever-afters. But the one time I tried to talk to her about the magical world of magazine editing, her eyes glazed over. A few minutes later, she wandered over to where her dad sat reading a medical publication. "Oooh, cool pictures, Dad! What is that?!"

Oh, well. Maybe her future is in medicine.

I'm learning, though, that you never know what's taking root in our children. The other day I was working on an article. Christa came into my office and leaned against my shoulder. I didn't realize she was also reading over my shoulder until she said, "I think there's a typo there, Mom. You might want to check that."

What? My daughter was editing me?!

Yep. And she was right--my writing needed to be corrected.

I confess I battled feelings of chagrin and pride. Edited by my 9-year-old. How embarrassing. And then I thought, I must be doing something right if my daughter knew enough to catch a writing mistake. I decided to savor the moment, rather than cringe.

I realize this doesn't mean Christa will love cutting sentences down to size like I do. She may grow up to be a dolphin trainer or a ballerina or doctor like her dad. So be it. I can be confident she'll be a capable writer too--in whatever capacity she chooses.

Of Editing and Dentists

"Editing is like going to the dentist. It can be painful. Sometimes you just want to avoid it. But, in the end, you're glad you got the work done."

I have spent too many hours of my life in a dentist's chair. I often say my husband's marriage vows should have been altered to read, "To love, honor, cherish, and pay my dental bills ..."

I am a dental disaster waiting to happen. A casual trip to my dentist, Dr. C., usually involves an "Uh-oh, this doesn't look good" comment. I know it's time for me to open wide for a really long time so he can go to work.

As much as I trust Dr. C., I hate dental procedures. I don't like cleanings. I don't like fillings. I don't like x-rays. I don't like root canals (too many to count.) And I do not like the uncomfortableness of reclining in the chair, mouth open wide, trying not to drool on myself or Dr. C.

A lot of writers feel the same way about editing: They don't like it. It's painful. It's something to be avoided. Who knows? There may be some of you out there who'd rather go to the dentist than edit your article or WIP.

But, remember what I wrote at the beginning of this blog post: " ... in the end, you're glad you got the work done."

You'll be glad you persevered and wrote and rewrote your article. You'll be thankful you found the passive verbs and the misspellings and the incomplete sentences and the rabbit trails. If you don't someone else will. If that someone else is an editor considering your article or book for publication, lousy writing could mean no sale.

If I avoid the dentist, am I avoiding my dental problems? Nope. They're still there. And they bother me.

If you avoid editing, you're not avoiding your writing weaknesses. They're still there--for everyone else to see.

Is that what you want?

You tell me.

Now, excuse me while I go make an appointment with Dr. C. I'm way-past due.

12 Self-Editing Tips for Beginners

"Writing is 1 percent inspiration, and 99 percent elimination." —Louise
Brooks

A critique group is not a free editing service. Before you submit a manuscript to members, use this basic self-editing checklist.

1. Proofread your manuscript for rhythm and flow.
2. Spell and grammar check the manuscript. (On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Spelling & Grammar tab. Under Spelling or Grammar, select the options you want.)
3. Insert page numbers. (On the Insert menu, click Page Numbers. In the Position box, choose "top of page." In the Alignment box, choose "right.")
4. Delete adverbs. (To find adverbs, on the Edit menu, click Find. In the Find what box, enter "ly." Click Find Next.)
5. Check homonyms, contractions, possessives, and plurals. Homonyms are words that sound the same but are spelled differently: there, their, and they’re. Confused between its and it’s? For “it’s”, I read the sentence and insert, “It is…” If it isn’t, then it’s its. Possessives do not have an apostrophe: his, hers, theirs, our, and yours. Contractions have an apostrophe: don’t, won’t, can’t. Plurals never need an apostrophes.
6. Delete unnecessary words, overused phrases, clichés, jargon, and repeated words. Most writers with repetition problems employ sentences that average between 12 and 18 words. Delete unnecessary words: that, just, then, only, very, really, thing, lifestyle, the real world, stuff, kid(s), guy, good, bad, great, a lot, kind of, sort of, so, truly, completely, positively, and such. Use repeated words sparingly, but deliberately for emphasis, irony, or rhetorical effect. Delete repeated words or replace using a thesaurus (You can highlight each repeated or unnecessary word throughout the document. On the Edit menu, click Find. In the Find and Replace box, enter the word or phrase. Then click on the Replace box. Select Highlight. Then Find All.)
7. Make passive sentences active. Grammar check points out passive sentences.
8. Edit out redundancies (same meaning conveyed by other words): "young baby", "a variety of different", "an added bonus", "to over-exaggerate", "and plus", "and etc.", "end result", "free gift", "future plans", "hot water heater", "unconfirmed rumor", "killed him dead", "past history", "safe haven", "potential hazard", "completely surrounded", "false pretense," "ATM machine", "HIV virus", "PIN number". Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(language)
9. Simplify dialogue tags. Instead of "he moaned", "he hissed", "he hollared", use “he said.”
10. Delete and replace weak verbs. “To be”: is, are, was, were, being, it is, it was. “To have”: has, have, had, having, has to. “To do”: do, does, did, doing. “To get”: get, got, getting, gotten. “To use”: use, uses, used, using.
11. Double check punctuation and spacing. Look for missing periods, overused commas, opening and closing quotes, and extra spaces. Delete exclamation points.
12. Vary sentence length and construction. To maintain interest, keep sentences readable. Reader’s Digest length sentences are 5-7 words. 1-20 words are easy to read. 21-25 words are easy to understand. 26-29 are difficult to follow. 30+ words are confusing.

One advantage of being in a critique group is to learn from the expertise of others. After editing rules, common mistakes or misspellings are pointed out several times, apply what you learn to future manuscripts.

One More Thing About Editors--For This Week, Anyway

As much as I didn't want to rewrite my article one more time, I wasn't willing to give up on it.
Why?
Because the editor wasn't giving up on it.
Even though we were in round three of "tweaking" my article, I told myself, "She must like something about the article to keep working with me on it."
And work with me, she did.
The editor had taken the time to shuffle some sections of the article around--and then highlighted them in a different color. When she sent the manuscript back, she also sent an e-mail with three questions she wanted me to consider. She never said, "Write your article this way--or else." She was trying to make sure the article was clear for the reader and that I wasn't repeating myself. And because the article spanned 7 years, the chronology was tricky. The editor wanted to make certain we had that right.
All things worth considering.
All in all, this article is getting published because of the hard work of several different people:

• me, as the writer/owner of the original idea
• my writers group, as the "supporting act" who stuck with me through the whole process
• and the editor, who was thorough, considerate and professional throughout the entire process

I hope I get to work with her again some day.

And yes, I'll do any and all re-writes.

Tickling the Editorial Funny Bone

I edit Connections, which is a leadership magazine put out by MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International.
I like editing. This is a good thing, since I've read each issue at least a dozen times before it goes to print. When I'm on deadline, I'm not laughing when I catch a mistake. I'm usually heaving a huge sigh of relief that a misspelling or grammar error didn't sneak by my editorial eye.
Yesterday I visited one of my favorite writers' Web sites: Visual Thesaurus. The site is just what it says it is: a visual take on a thesaurus. When you type in a word, they map out different words that mean the same thing. It's so colorful--kinda' like mindmapping.
But I digress.
The site highlighted an interview with Editorial Emergency, an agency that provides branding, copwriting and non-profit messaging.
As I was strolling through the site, I saw a link labeled "Our Customers." Then I saw a link labeled "Not Our Customers." And that's the section that got me laughing. It's 23 pages of mistakes. Spelling errors. Grammar errors. On signs. In newspapers. Advertisements that make you shake your head and think, "How did someone not catch that?"
If you're an editor or writer, you know it happens. You're just glad when it happens to someone else.