Mining for Rich Veins of Typos

Here’s a question for the editors: When you’re working on a new manuscript, or copy from a new writer, how do you get in the groove and figure out what sort of style, tone, repeat problems, or common stylistic errors their copy has? How quickly do you usually figure out how to work with an author’s copy and how much work it will be? Do you ever make a cheat sheet for a particular author or manuscript, or is it generally easy to remember that so-and-so always uses redundant adjectives and has tense-switching issues? Do you make style sheets you carry from one job to the next that help you get started on the basics, like whether or not to use a serial comma, s’s vs. s’, and number/percentage formatting? This isn’t so much an issue when you work for one publication with one style guide, but for clients without style preferences or for working with multiple clients with specific preferences, I find this helpful.

I tend to start with big formatting changes, then read through copy and make batch changes on these style issues as I go. If I’m not yet sure what the best solution is, I highlight the first instance of the word and then come back to do a search for highlighted words, which takes me through the manuscript making one style decision after another. (This also works well for coming back to things that need fact-checking.) I often find that after reading about one third of a manuscript, very few new issues pop up and the rest is smooth sailing and basic copyediting. For new writers and magazine copy, I generally get a sense of the writer’s style within a paragraph or two, but I’ve learned that some writers produce very different copy when asked to write a feature or a product review versus a historical piece.

I’d love to hear about other editors’ processes and best practices. Bring it on in comments.

Mad Libs

Introducing the 2010 Toyota Prius, part of this complete eco-friendly experience.

As an editor, do you ever see the same darn copy coming across your desk, with a few nouns and verbs changed out? As a writer, do you ever get stuck in a formula for writing a certain type of article or story?

My local newspaper’s website, Mlive.com, just posted this lovely piece of copy to their homepage, (sorry, Mlive):

“Heading to Detroit this weekend for the North American International Auto Show? MLive.com has you covered with what you’ll need to know and everything you’ll want to see. With dozens of electric and hybrid vehicles taking center stage, be ready for an eco-friendly experience.”

Nothing really wrong with writing a little blurb like this on deadline, right? But I swear I’ve seen this exact copy, with a tweak here and there, on my desk about 100 times, AND on MSNBC, AND on pretty much any other news site with a “weekend guide.” Is this the weekend guide formula? Let’s break this down into a mad lib and see how hard this little piece of copy can be made to work:

“_VERB_ing to _NOUN_ this weekend for the _ADJECTIVE_ _NOUN_? We have you covered with what you’ll need to _VERB_ and everything you’ll want to _VERB_. With dozens of _PL NOUN_ taking center stage, be ready for a(n) _ADJECTIVE_ experience.”

What can you make of this?

Heading to Neiman Marcus this weekend for the oh-so-hot Reem Acra trunk show? (The girls love Reem!) We have you covered with what you need to wear and everything you’ll want to snatch up to make your day a dream. With dozens of new designs taking center stage, be ready for a bridal smackdown shopping experience. (Hint: Bring your brass knuckles.)

Well, that’s a few extra words, but you see what I mean? Automotive copy reads like this, Access Hollywood talks like this, and on and on. My fix? Rather than hang myself by my press pass, I tend to rearrange the sentence structures. And again, there may be nothing wrong with what you’ve got–unless last month’s copy looked a lot like it, and the month before that…. Here’s a quick “blender” fix for your copy:

The North American International Auto Show is on this weekend, with dozens of the latest hybrids, electrics, and futuristic concepts taking center stage. It’s a lot to take in, but we’ve got you covered. Check out our guide for everything you’ll want to see and do at this year’s show.

Or whatever. It won’t win a Pulitzer, but it may save your editor’s life.