Editors Helping Editors

@milehighfool and @LydiaBreakfast have been hosting some great chats on Twitter (#editorchat) for the past couple Wednesday nights, to help editors and writers connect and discuss how to help one another. This week’s topic was fair pay for editors and how free online content and slashed budgets are affecting pay for writers. If you’re on Twitter, check it out. The more the merrier. : )

Also, if there are any topics you would like to discuss here, please let me know. I’d love to get to know more of you and hear about your recent experience in the publishing industry.

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.

Ann Arbor Editors

I recently transitioned from a full-time copy chief job at Winding Road magazine, under the illustrious David E., to full-time freelancing. I made one teeny tiny comment out loud about deciding to write (finally!), and the universe rearranged my life within the week to allow me to pursue that decade-or-so-procrastinated goal. So… I procrastinated a little more and went looking for editing and writing blogs with topics that interested me–things I would geek out with my managing editor about over lunch–and found nothing. There are great blogs on time management (ahem), creative writing, and how to start your own home-based business, and several rather stagnant networking sites for editors, but really nothing I found would support my now isolated professional self the way I wanted. I’m being the change I want to see, or the support, rather. Please join me as I discuss the real nitty gritty of being a professional editor and writer: freelancing in a shitstorm economy, difficult editorial decisions, how editors and writers fit into new media business models, how to get unstuck when you’re writing, finding your life’s work, and so on.

I’ve called this blog “Ann Arbor Editors,” because I really wish there were a local networking group in my beloved Ann Arbor, Michigan, that I could lazily attend and benefit from. But the universe is not in the habit of allowing me to be lazy, at least not these days, so why don’t we create a space for all editors and writers to discuss the craft(s) and support one another’s careers and life work? Welcome!