Barker Ch. 9 (Erik Sorensen & Emma Baumann)
Barker Chapter 9
Editing and Fine Tuning
Summary
Editing and Fine Tuning
Summary
By Erik Sorensen & Emma Baumann
This chapter is concerned with the editing and revision of projects as a management concern. The chapter offers guidelines to help develop a consistent and efficient style of editing.
1. Establish Project Guidelines
It is often important for the writer or writers of a document to be on the same understanding. This will help to ensure that goals and objectives of given documents are met. It is important in this step to identify your audience and make sure all editing is done with the audience in mind. Sometimes editing is done by other people and sometimes the creator of the document will edit it themselves. In each case it is important to be consistent and ensure attention is paid to detail. Barker introduces editing marks that seem to be universally understood so that editing can be done collaboratively.
2. Understand the Types of Editing
These are sometimes called levels of editing. There are four basic types of editing: Managerial, Substantive, Copy and Proofreading. Each one of these edits is unique in its intention.
Managerial editing concerns itself with the documents and their planning rather than the actual format and content. This type of edit will require comparison to other management materials. This edit will be done by managers and editors from a group working closely with the writers of the document.
Substantive editing involves editing language and information. This edit is done closely with the author and deals with the structure of the document. Substantive editing deals a vast amount the following are some examples:
Organization
Fluency
Parallelism in steps
Clarification
Omission
Copyediting will deal with grammar, mechanical style, and format. This editing will take place in the latter stages and most of the groundwork has already been laid. This would be like how we use to edit each others papers in high school. You will be looking closely for silly mistakes and final touches such as spelling, subject/verb agreement, acronyms, abbreviations and so forth.
Proofreading is the last stage. This will be an overall check of the document. You may catch mistakes that were previously undetected. This is the last opportunity to catch mistakes before printing takes place, so look closely!
3. Plan Your Editing Tasks
Planning your editing should take place at the very beginning stages of a project. This will allow for the best situation for proper editing to take place. Scheduling editing will budget the necessary time initially. However, there is no definite rule on how much time should be allotted for each step. Barker provides a rough guideline for each level of editing.
Managerial Editing: 10-15% of all activities
Substantive Editing: 6-8 hours per page
Copyediting: 1-3 hours per page
Proofreading: 5-10 pages per hour
Each level will require different tasks of the editor. For example, in a managerial edit you should plan on attending meetings and communication is the key on this level since you will be working closely with all aspects of the revision. Substantive editing will require you to look at each page of the document as its being created and closely keep in mind the readers needs. You will also be checking style and again, the meetings for comments and suggestions. Copyediting only requires one session per draft and will be done after the document is complete in draft form. Proofreading is just a matter of double checking things however; it can be extremely tedious so more than one person may be essential and beneficial.
4. Develop the Appropriate Editing Forms
Often times in order to save time and energy a company may have existing forms and procedures for editing. This can help regularize procedures and streamline the process. One of the most important forms, according to Barker, is a style sheet. A style sheet is a sort of way to keep track of the revisions as they happen. This is not to take place of a style guide but rather allows you to keep track of the small changes as they occur.
A style guide will contain all the rules and conventions for a specific project. This is a way to keep things uniform throughout a department or company and can also set a standard for future documents. A style guide does numerous other things and is essential for any project.
5. Conduct Editing Sessions
Different edits can occur at different levels of the document life cycle, however there some general rules that apply to each edit. Editing requires concentration so distractions are not encouraged. A checklist is also beneficial, especially if you are editing your own work in order to avoid ignoring our mistakes. There are a few other tips offered: edit with a partner, shorten editing sessions.
Managerial editing concerns itself with the documents and their planning rather than the actual format and content. This type of edit will require comparison to other management materials. This edit will be done by managers and editors from a group working closely with the writers of the document.
Substantive editing involves editing language and information. This edit is done closely with the author and deals with the structure of the document. Substantive editing deals a vast amount the following are some examples:
Organization
Fluency
Parallelism in steps
Clarification
Omission
Copyediting will deal with grammar, mechanical style, and format. This editing will take place in the latter stages and most of the groundwork has already been laid. This would be like how we use to edit each others papers in high school. You will be looking closely for silly mistakes and final touches such as spelling, subject/verb agreement, acronyms, abbreviations and so forth.
Proofreading is the last stage. This will be an overall check of the document. You may catch mistakes that were previously undetected. This is the last opportunity to catch mistakes before printing takes place, so look closely!
3. Plan Your Editing Tasks
Planning your editing should take place at the very beginning stages of a project. This will allow for the best situation for proper editing to take place. Scheduling editing will budget the necessary time initially. However, there is no definite rule on how much time should be allotted for each step. Barker provides a rough guideline for each level of editing.
Managerial Editing: 10-15% of all activities
Substantive Editing: 6-8 hours per page
Copyediting: 1-3 hours per page
Proofreading: 5-10 pages per hour
Each level will require different tasks of the editor. For example, in a managerial edit you should plan on attending meetings and communication is the key on this level since you will be working closely with all aspects of the revision. Substantive editing will require you to look at each page of the document as its being created and closely keep in mind the readers needs. You will also be checking style and again, the meetings for comments and suggestions. Copyediting only requires one session per draft and will be done after the document is complete in draft form. Proofreading is just a matter of double checking things however; it can be extremely tedious so more than one person may be essential and beneficial.
4. Develop the Appropriate Editing Forms
Often times in order to save time and energy a company may have existing forms and procedures for editing. This can help regularize procedures and streamline the process. One of the most important forms, according to Barker, is a style sheet. A style sheet is a sort of way to keep track of the revisions as they happen. This is not to take place of a style guide but rather allows you to keep track of the small changes as they occur.
A style guide will contain all the rules and conventions for a specific project. This is a way to keep things uniform throughout a department or company and can also set a standard for future documents. A style guide does numerous other things and is essential for any project.
5. Conduct Editing Sessions
Different edits can occur at different levels of the document life cycle, however there some general rules that apply to each edit. Editing requires concentration so distractions are not encouraged. A checklist is also beneficial, especially if you are editing your own work in order to avoid ignoring our mistakes. There are a few other tips offered: edit with a partner, shorten editing sessions.
posted by Emma Baumann | 10:00 AM
10 Comments:
I do a lot of editing in my job. I've learned that I need to take into account individual author's personalities when doing editing, especially the substantive and copyediting portions. Some authors are just thrilled to pass off their documentation to someone who will "clean it up," while there are others who need support material to back-up any changes to their writing and become very defensive. We've agreed on the Chicago Manual of Style as our main resource and we're also developing common spellings and terminology within the Company. We'd see e-mail, email, E-Mail used by different authors. Things are becoming much more consistent.
As Anne said in her post, Email, email, etc. is one of those things that is a point of contention (among MANY others); we still have that discussion when business cards are printed (ask Dr. Nord).
As for editing, the authors give guidelines for time spent editing; I really hope it doesn't take 6 to 8 hours per page of substantive editing or 1 to 3 hours per page of copyediting. Seems like a bit much to me . . .
Another point (Anne) is that some people embrace an editor while other people will revile the same editor. I think one of the most difficult tasks I have when I edit something is to carefully watch that I don't suggest changes that reflect how I write instead of leaving thins alone as the author intended them to be. The main thing, as suggested in the reading, is to be consistent and to pay attention to detail.
Overall, this chapter has some useful tips and general information. Stylesheets or other style guides are a must. Perhaps the recommended checklist is a good idea . . .
That old adage is still true - the secret to good writing is rewriting. Many times we are forced to wear multiple hats and edit our own work. However, I find it preferable (on the rare occasions that it actually occurs) to have another person edit my work. I find myself getting so close to my own documentation that I can't see the forest for the trees. I'm in the camp that appreciates having someone "clean it up" like Anne said. Go Anne!
I’m in the same boat that Carl is in: I feel that I’m unable to edit my own work because I’m just too close to it. I think it stems from the condition that because you are writing your document, it makes perfect sense to you. You know what is being implied, but that certainly doesn’t mean that someone else will! I feel that I need someone else to take a look at my work. I’ll come in and say “See, it’s great!” and they’ll turn around with “No it isn’t.” It can be frustrating, but that’s what can make the document better, which is worth a little deflation of the ego now and then.
Editing for content is a touchy subject. I know I can get attached to the way I do things, just like anyone else. When it comes to arguing a point during editing, though, the bottom line should be the rhetorical situation. If the change will bring the document closer to meeting the needs of the rhetorical situation, then the change should be implimented.
As a professional, the author should understand the rhetorical situation (and not a personal reason) is the focus for editing. The editor should share the same understanding; their job is to edit for the user and not for themselves. By defining a common goal, the editor and writer are one step closer to feeling like they are working together as a team, and not competing for contribution credit.
...And when it comes to all editing, consistency is next to Godliness.
I agree with Anne that agreeing upon one type of style guidelines is good. Whether it is APA, Chicago or MLS, it should be consistent. I have run into people who ask to have their document looked over and once you do and change things they feel they are being told their writing isn't good. I do think understanding the different types of edits is good along with knowing a little about the person you are editing for. I would also make it clear what type of edit is expected so there are no surprises.
After taking 475 with Nord a year ago. My fraternity brothers started to come to me asking to edit various documents for them. So experience editing came quickly for me.
I agree with what Peterson said about some writers understanding the importance of being edited while others see themselves as the master editor and what ever they have done in a document is correct because they said so. I have done lots of editing for friends of mine and as long as it was not there paper I was editing then they seemed to agree with the marks I made as I explained it to them, but when I was editing there paper they seemed to become very defensive and critical about marks I made in their document.
I have worked with editing a bit. I think that the level of edit are important but often mislabeled by those outside of the writing world. Honestly, do you expect a proofreader to ignore other more intesive level error to go unmentioned because it isn't their specific duty? NO, but why should they be doing a job they aren't getting recognized for. I also agree that I cannot edit my own work and you definately need an outside source to do so. It is impossible to get completely outside of yourself and look objectively unless you're going to wait like 5 years between the writing and editing stages.
I think I now understand why I have had trouble in the past as a copy editor. I am usually fairly disorganized, and generally skim through whatever the the item is checking for anything that seems to "interrupt" the reading process. I would probably do about forty pages in an hour. I think my fiance would appreciate me following this guide a bit next time she asks me to proof read her lab report...
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