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Getting to the Bottom Line

1/16/2014

4 Comments

 
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Welcome to Rose's Red Pen!

For the first post on Rose's Red Pen, I want to revisit a guest column I did for Laurinda Wallace's SimplyLife blog about why fiction writers should use an editor. One of my colleagues recently commented that many editors are losing their jobs as budgets tighten. She wanted to see an argument made for the value of keeping those positions.

Beyond creative and practical considerations, a good editor can save your reputation and your money. Too often, other employees, whether they can write or not, are pressed into collateral duty as editors or proofreaders. When editing is treated as something that can be done by any breathing body, in a time crunch at the end of a project, your work will pay the price.

Without a substantive editor, the final piece may lack creativity, organizational flow, brevity, and readability. Without dedicated line editors or proofreaders, embarrassing mistakes may remain, such as missing words, misspellings, and errors in punctuation and grammar. These are often missed because we do not see our own mistakes. Our brains fill in the blanks. We see what we think we wrote, not what's actually on the page. (This is why the writer and substantive editor shouldn't proofread something they have already worked on. They are too familiar with the content.)

Over the years, I've seen costly mistakes, both in terms of dollars and client trust. Here are two examples:

  • An entire training program failed the government's 508 testing, which makes sure that products are accessible to those with disabilities. The formatting errors and omissions had to be fixed, requiring many hours of labor and threatening the deadline for implementation.
  • A 60-page reference guide had to be entirely reprinted and redistributed to more than 250 sites because the glossary had an incorrect definition for one acronym.
Some errors may still sneak by because editors, after all, are human too. However, using a dedicated editor will increase your chances of fixing the glaring, egregious mistakes, the ones that lead to expensive reprinting or gleeful online slamming. Even if your bank account can take the hit, is it worth the risk to your credibility and reputation?

4 Comments
Janet Pepin
1/19/2014 11:08:41 am

What about when the written word is used to initiate, invigorate or inspire? An editor is worth his or her weight in gold because only he or she can is trained to select a specific turn of phrase or rhythm of the selected words to coax a change in the reader's viewpoint. Kudos to editors!

Reply
Rose Ciccarelli link
1/21/2014 10:26:55 am

Good point, Janet. Editing for rhythm is really important, whether you're working on a speech or a play or dialogue in a novel.

Reply
MarthaP
1/19/2014 11:11:04 pm

I so agree on the need for editors in so many areas. I tend to edit typos in books, magazine articles, etc., and it is so distracting from the content. Looking forward to following your blog.

Reply
Rose Ciccarelli link
1/21/2014 10:28:45 am

Thanks, Martha. I'll post a new entry every Thursday.

Reply



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    Rose Ciccarelli offers writing and editing services through Rosebud Communications.

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