Editing

“ I prefer to edit because I get to read as I edit and by editing I am giving to a system that provides for others. What I do not want to do is spend slow time learning something that I am not interested in such as creating a portal because in that same amount of time I could be editing. Editing is a "must" and it is there that I contribute freely and happily. I enjoy what I do. If others like us felt that way we would have more workers doing whatever they like the best. ”

“ Magazine editing is so largely a question of method and system—so far as I can learn—that I fancy you will eventually find it possible to claim a few hours every day for yourself;—and such systematic work as you must take hold of, will not, like journalistic routine, deaden aspiration. ”

“ Other copy for the editorial page—letters to the editor, communications, verse, comments from other newspapers, and the like—is prepared by his assistants. “Editing” copy means preparing it for the compositor, putting it in the exact language in which it is to be printed.
Systematic, careful revision of all copy is necessary not alone to correct error of fact, of judgment, of good taste, but also to regulate the volume of matter. The notion that newspapers print articles “just to fill up” is as absurd as the intimation that they “print anything they can get.” ”

“ The modern science of critical editing, however, which applies to medieval texts the principles long recognized in editing the classics, has discovered in the 16th-century manuscript, and still more in the original miscellaneous works of Joinville, the letters, deeds, &c., already alluded to, the materials for what we have already called a conjectural restoration, which is not without its interest, though perhaps it is possible for that interest to be exaggerated. ”

“ You're listed as an associate editor in the two Eaton-Lathrup magazines which use the most interior art work—as a rule, anyway—and the girl at the desk told me you can recommend art work sometimes, even though you don't do any actual buying. I know even assistant editors can do that—put in a strong plug for a drawing. What I'm really trying to say is—you look at most of the work when it first comes in, and when you need a particular kind of illustration for a story you've been editing your recommendation almost always means that the drawing will be bought. ”

“ A collection of essays that treat practical aspects of editing Middle English manuscripts. Although addressed to the neophyte, few experienced editors will fail to benefit from the discussions of such topics as editing methods, parallel texts, using sources, annotating a text, preparing a glossary, electronic editions, and editing kinds of literary and nonliterary manuscripts. Of particular importance for both students and aspiring editors is the admirably straightforward “Practical Guide to Working with Middle English Manuscripts.” ”

“ He reaches his office, and for two or three hours practises that occupation of watching other people work which is called editing: a process always of ordering, of rectifying, of laying down the law, of being looked up to, of showing how a thing ought to be done and can be done, of being flattered and cajoled, of dispensing joy or gloom—in short, the Jupiter and Shah of Persia business. ”

“ With care inappreciable and invaluable fidelity has the editing throughout been done. The selection must of necessity have been to a certain degree straitened and limited by many minor and temporary considerations; publishers, tasters, and such-like, must have fingered the work here and there, snuffing at this and nibbling at that as their manner is. For the work and workman have yet their way to make in the judicious reading world ”

“ The collation has for the most part only served to confirm Haslewood's reputation for careful editing. Though the present edition can claim to come nearer the original in many thousands of passages, it is chiefly in the mint and cummin of capitals and italics that we have been able to improve on Haslewood: in all the weightier matters of editing he shows only the minimum of fallibility. ”

“ This will be entrusted to writers who will each, in freshly treated, suggestive Introductions, give just that account of the book and its author which will enable the significance of both in life and literature, and their relation to modern thought, to be readily grasped. And where, for the successful rescue of old-time books for modern reading, revision and selection are necessary, the editing will be done with careful zeal and with reverence always for the true spirit of the book. ”

“ Long, who unites the talents of the scholar and the editor in a degree which is altogether unusual. If any one should imagine that a mixed mass of contributors is a punctual piece of machinery, let him take to editing upon that hypothesis, and he shall see what he shall see and learn what he shall learn. ”

“ The editors of the several volumes will be chosen for their special qualifications in connection with the texts to be issued under their individual supervision, but familiarity with the practical needs of the classroom, no less than sound scholarship, will characterize the editing of every book in the series. ”

“ The application of these marks and the catch-lines in the editing of copy are shown by the following typical pages:
[Pg 268]
The two images above show the typewritten copy of a short news item which has been edited by a copy reader who has applied these marks to indicate to the compositor how the matter is to be set in type.
[Pg 269]
SUGGESTIONS
Familiarize yourself thoroughly with all details of the typographical style of your paper. Read every word of copy carefully. Work as rapidly as is consistent with accuracy; don’t putter over corrections. ”

“ Coming in connection with the first great work of editing in the field of American history, it attracted wide attention, and fixed in the minds of scholars the necessity of accurate reproduction of documents. It should be said for Sparks that many others of his time thought that an editor ought to correct the letters he reproduced. Exact reproduction, however, had become the rule with the best editors.
§ 18. Force. Peter Force was born in New Jersey in 1790. When very small he accompanied his father to New York, where, after a short term at school, he became a printer’s boy. ”

“ Even on the mechanical side the accuracy of the news may be affected by a careless compositor or proof-reader. The rapidity with which all the processes of newspaper making are performed greatly increases the possibility of error. The personal equation, for which allowance is made in all scientific and technical work, enters into every part of the process of newspaper making, from the gathering and writing of the news by the reporter, through the editing of it and the writing of a headline for it, to the compositor, proof-reader, and make-up man. ”

“ Even working as a copyeditor within a large discourse community such as Wikipedia helps students to see how important it is to write clearly and coherently. Copyediting assignments, which help improve the intelligibility of Wikipedia articles, highlight the relationship among writer, readers, content and ideology. ”

“ The copy-reader must transform the weak, rambling sentence into a firm, coherent statement with an emphatic beginning. For the trite, colorless word or phrase, he must substitute the fresh, picturesque one. The too figurative flights of exuberant fancy in one young reporter’s copy must be toned down, and the bald, prosaic narrative or description in another’s given life and interest. In short, the copy-reader’s work is constructive as well as critical; it is as important for him to rewrite and rearrange as to cut out and boil down. ”

“ The editor or copy-reader who is constantly writing heads comes to think unconsciously in headline units; that is, his daily practice makes it possible for him to frame readily statements of the essential facts that will fulfill the requirements of each deck of the head. Nevertheless, he always counts the units to be sure that the number is correct. For the beginner the process of building up the several decks of a typical headline is analyzed at some length in the following pages, in order to demonstrate the methods pursued. ”

“ Editing. Whether editing of a musical composition constitutes registrable "new matter" depends upon its nature and extent. Assuming it is sufficient to con­stitute creative authorship, editing w11l be regarded as a "writing" registrable in Class E.
IV.
New lyrics. (See also topic 2.6.l.III.a.)
a.
The addition of copyrightable new words to existing music creates a new version registrable in Class E.
Examples
1. ”

“ Here's a story: There was a documentary filmmaker who was making a documentary film about education in America. And he's shooting across this classroom with lots of people, kids, who are completely distracted at the television in the back of the classroom. When they get back to the editing room, they realize that on the television, you can barely make out the show for two seconds; it's "The Simpsons", Homer Simpson on the screen. So they call up Matt Groening, who was a friend of the documentary filmmaker, and say, you know, "Is this going to be a problem? It's only a couple seconds.". ”

“ Slightly OT, the hard work of adapting the visual editor to Wikisource is mainly led by volunteers User:Coren and User:Tpt who would certainly benefit from direct feedback about what's working and what you'd like to see improved. Thanks! As a reminder—this wiki features a Single Edit Tab system; if you're not sure you know or remember how that works, you can read the guide (which details, among other things, how to switch between editors from the buttons on the toolbar) ; you can change your editing settings at any time, by the way. ”

“ When an editor tells a reporter, a rewrite man, or a copy-reader to play up a certain “feature” in a news story, he determines to a considerable extent what the effect of that piece of news will be upon the readers. By cutting out important details, by shifting the emphasis from one particular to another, by inserting a word here and there, editors and copy-readers may completely alter the impression made by the news. The size and character of the headline given a story produce quite as great an impression on the reader as the story itself. ”

“ It is not unusual during the rush hours when time is very valuable to send stories to the copy desk as each page is written, and as the page is edited, to send it up to the composing room to be put into type, without waiting for the complete story. ”

“ When news is to be rewritten without additional details, the stories clipped from other papers are turned over to rewrite men or to reporters to be put at once in a new form for publication. If the editor [Pg 196] desires more facts or later phases, he gives the clipping to a reporter, who, taking the first story as a basis, proceeds to get the desired additions before writing the new story. ”

“ On some newspapers the managing editor directs the make-up, on others the assistant managing editor, and on still others the night editor, or the news editor. With a set of proofs at hand [Pg 327] the editor directing the make-up indicates where all the important stories and cuts are to be placed, and then usually allows the make-up men to fill in the shorter matter with the smaller heads. The experienced editor can picture in his mind the appearance of the first page in print, as he directs the arrangement of the masses of type and the cuts. ”

“ All of the manuscript, or “copy,” is edited and is supplied with headlines at the copy desk in charge of a head copy-reader with a number of copy-readers as assistants. “Rewrite men” are often employed to take the facts of a story from another newspaper and rewrite them, or to [Pg 6] receive material over the telephone from reporters and correspondents and write it up for publication. ”

“ With an editor ever alive to the new message, the new note, the fresh way of saying a thing, the new angle on a current subject, whether in article or story—since fiction is really to-day only a reflection of modern thought—the foolish notion that an editor must be approached through “influence,” by a letter of introduction from some friend or other author, falls of itself. There is no more powerful lever to open the modern magazine door than a postage-stamp on an envelope containing a manuscript that says something. ”

“ There is no difference in principle between the judgment of writing and of pictures. But there is a great difference in appearance. Thus when you look at a picture, you can tell at a glance whether it is good or not. The amateur qualities and crudities stand out in it, so that almost anyone, even if he is not trained to judge, can tell its defects.
But a manuscript may be crude, may seem very bad, and yet, to a trained editor, may still contain the essence of genuine talent. ”

“ You cannot be too well posted on what is going on in the photoplay business-world. Your selling-average will be higher as a result. The editor knows what is old and what is new, and so must you, though doubt [Pg 263] less not so perfectly. Every editor's office is stocked with books, reference works, magazines, trade publications, and files of newspaper clippings. These all contain something of practical value in working up the bare ideas bought from contributors or in writing his own story—for editors as well as producers often write photoplays. ”

“ Willsie, being a novelist, belongs to the artist class, but she is also an editor, which to my mind makes her success in both spheres the more remarkable. To edit means hours daily of routine, details, contacts; mechanical work, business, that would drive most writers of fiction quite mad. ”