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An array of typeface letters, in brown and grey tones.

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Wasted Words: The Editor as Analyst

Saturday November 24, 2012

Wasted Words is a series of musings on language and usage by editor emeritus Wilf Popoff. I find it hard to edit without playing amateur psychologist. Why did the writer do this? Carelessness? Ignorance? Of course it can be either. Compared to editors writers are not as alert, which is why they need us. But […]

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editing tautology usage verbosity

A woman is carrying a huge stack of hardcover books. She is standing in front of an institutional green brick wall on which there is a clock that says 3 o’clock.

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DISPATCHES from an Editorial Intern

Tuesday March 5, 2013

Outside Looking In I decided I wanted to go into publishing in early 2011. It was a good solution to my problems at the time. Problems like why I didn’t want to fill out arduous grad school applications and why I wouldn’t apply to law school (as members of my family fervently hoped I would). […]

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editing editor editor's role editorial intern intern publishing

An array of antique compasses, some in wooden casings, arranged haphazardly on a dark brown surface.

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DISPATCHES 3: An Intern’s Survival Guide

Wednesday May 1, 2013

For all the good that comes out of an internship, sometimes being an intern can be tough. Interns are dropped into a completely new environment where everyone has more experience than they do. It’s important that they make a good impression, but, at the same time, interns’ skills are only just developing, and they have […]

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editing editor editorial intern editorial student intern internships publishing

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EAC The Editors Weekly blog – Need to Know Now – Okerlund

“The volatile state of the publishing industry today—and by extension, the editing profession—can sometimes feel pretty daunting…” Editor Lana Okerlund writes about the challenges facing editors in the digital age, in “What Do Editors Need to Know Now?” for the EAC/ACR blog, The Editors’ Weekly, May 7, 2013.

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When does consistency trump everything else in writing? Or does it ever? Virginia Durksen’s new mini-series explores the myth of consistency in writing. EAC Blog, Sept 5, 2013.

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Virginia Durksen

Myth: Consistency matters consistently

Tuesday September 10, 2013

And so begins a mini-series, a sub-set of The Inner Editor by Virginia Durksen. Each “mythbuster” explores an assumption commonly made about editors or editing and offers a new perspective on that assumption. Consistency matters when you’re adding a column of numbers. Consistency also matters when you’re training your dog (or your kids, for that […]

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consistency editing editor editorial

Police car pulling over driver

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Wasted Words: Jobspeak, the Language of Work

Tuesday July 8, 2014

At an age when young men are learning to shave, I was hanging out at police stations and courthouses. No, I wasn’t in trouble with the law. I was a newspaper reporter, writing about the legal problems of others and the policemen* who brought them to justice. In fact, the only crimes I committed were […]

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editing jargon jobspeak language reporting Wasted Words word choice writing

Putting crumpled paper in wastebasket

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An Editor in a Three-Day Writer’s Boot Camp, Day 2

Tuesday August 12, 2014

In every good boot camp movie there’s a scene where a tough army trainer leaves the rebellious recruit out in the cold and rain all night or makes them do 1,000 pushups. This is one way to make the recruit begin to sacrifice ego. The other short story boot camp recruits and I didn’t have […]

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authors critique editing feedback manuscript review workshops writing

Hand writing question mark

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Victoria Neufeldt

What’s an Editor to Do?

Tuesday January 6, 2015

The vagaries of language can cause even the most experienced editors headaches. Editors as a group are more attuned to the whims and ways of language than the average speaker, but many strange and challenging usages regularly fly under the radar and pass into public text, despite our best efforts. When should an editor accept […]

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editing editor's role grammar language usage word choice

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The Invisible Vocation in Books

Tuesday September 1, 2015

Well, our blog post about Colin Firth playing the great Maxwell Perkins in the upcoming film Genius had a one-day reach of 3,000 viewers. We editors are the invisible and unsung celebrities of the publishing world, so it feels great to get some recognition in print or on film. Hell, we’ll even take word of […]

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book recommendations books about publishing Melva McLean

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Victoria Neufeldt

Undue Care and Attention

Tuesday October 13, 2015

Are you ever guilty of writing with undue care and attention? If you didn’t spot the clunker in the preceding sentence, prop your eyes open and attend! We think we know the language and may even make our living by writing and editing, but the ways to slip up are infinite, providing sport for many […]

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common errors paying attention slip-ups Victoria Neufeldt