Before you start Editing the Editors Editing the Editors Remember - PDF document

9/26/2016 Before you start Editing the Editors Editing the Editors • Remember the common goal • What is the draft for? • Who is the audience? • What is my role? • Who has the last word? Mary Pfotenhauer • Remember the outside forces Aaron McKean State of Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau As you read “Individual commitment to a group Differentiate among the following: effort – that is what makes a team • Something is wrong work, a company work, a society work, • Writing is unclear and must be fixed a civilization work.” – Vince Lombardi • Understandability could be improved • Personal taste and style 1

9/26/2016 Com m unicating w ith drafters C-MAN suggestions • Global changes • Put yourself in the writer’s shoes • Discrepancies • Put it in writing, except when you • Omissions shouldn’t • Possible errors • Explain sparingly, at first • Repetition • Ask permission instead of forgiveness • Ask for verification • Invite communication • Ask for clarification • Teach a lasting lesson • Provide sources for corrections CMOS 2.66 Com m unicating w ith drafters Com m unicating w ith drafters • Okay? • Ask “yes” or “no” questions. “Comments should be concise, and they • Do you mean [this] or [that]? should avoid sounding casual, pedantic, • This is how I read this. Is this what you condescending, or indignant.” intended? • “I have seen other provisions like this that - The Chicago Manual of Style, 16 th Ed. include [X]. Should this include [X]?” • “Did you consider [Y]? “You may want to consider [Z]” 2

9/26/2016 Com m unicating w ith drafters • “It seems...” • Why? • Avoid an interrogation • Blame the reader “Assumptions are the termites of relationships.” - Henry Winkler Last resorts References Gross, Gerald, ed. Editors on Editing: What “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s Writers Need to Know About What Editors Do. whether you get up.” - Vince Lombardi 3rd ed. New York: Grove Press, 1993. • Blame the reader, again Saller, Carol Fisher. The Subversive Copy • Employ creative tactics Editor: Advice from Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009. • Put it in writing • Pick your battles – and make sure you University of Chicago Press. The Chicago know why you are fighting them Manual of Style. 16th ed. Chicago: University of • Think positive Chicago Press, 2003. • Be confident in doing your job 3