This is a testimonial I received earlier this year:
JANIE PENDLETON, novelist: Tom is a writer's best friend. He is doing a fabulous job 'Copy Editing' and 'Vetting' my sequel to "The Gates to Love and War" called "The Heart of Vengeance".
Easy to work with and honest, Tom polishes my skills to shine above my other competitors work. The writing business is slim and none when it comes to hitting the big-time....Only 10% of three-hundred thousand manuscripts got published this year (2008). Of that lucky 10%...only 3% of the authors gained a noticable profit!....So, with that knowledge, you now know you MUST go in the ring with top skills behind you... Tom is that "manager" so to speak. The one who can guide your thoughts and give ideas to boost your manuscripts vision leaving you standing in the winner's circle!
Janie Pendleton, Novelist,
"The Gates to Love and War"
Voted: 1st place Modern War/Romance Novel 2008; 2nd place for "Best Ever Contemporary Romance 2008", 3rd place for "Best Twist" for 2008, 3rd place for "Best Romantic Suspense" 2008.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Back on the desk
I don't know if we're going to be busy tonight on the sports copy desk. I have to put together a golf roundup and a tennis roundup, and I need to pick a tennis story to run as a separate.
My first story to edit was on the Tour de France. Lance Armstrong survived the final mountain stage and will finish third in the tour.
I made it hard on myself while doing the tennis. I forgot to pull out the tennis separate. The paginator was kind enough to pull out the separate for me, and she added a picture to the roundup to fill out the space. Teamwork.
For once, the individual stories for the golf roundup came in early. Normally, I've been waiting until 10 or later to get one of the matches; today, the roundup was no trouble at all.
I haven't had an opportunity for a good headline, but that happens. My best head came in the swimming story, which explained that swim records will continue to fall until next year, when the high-tech bodysuits are no longer allowed. The head: Bodysuits to sink one more wave of records.
I just edited the story for the Winston-Salem Dash, the local minor-league baseball team. The story was fine, and the headline was relatively easy, but I really struggled with the box. I'm having trouble with tabs, and a co-worker helped me out.
I had to do a lot of editing to get the auto-racing notebook to fit. I wanted to make sure I got the headline right and get every bit of the story in there.
We got the major-league baseball and the local auto racing story from Bowman Gray Stadium. The Nationwide Series racing story was our last file, and I did it.
Naturally.
We're outta here.
My first story to edit was on the Tour de France. Lance Armstrong survived the final mountain stage and will finish third in the tour.
I made it hard on myself while doing the tennis. I forgot to pull out the tennis separate. The paginator was kind enough to pull out the separate for me, and she added a picture to the roundup to fill out the space. Teamwork.
For once, the individual stories for the golf roundup came in early. Normally, I've been waiting until 10 or later to get one of the matches; today, the roundup was no trouble at all.
I haven't had an opportunity for a good headline, but that happens. My best head came in the swimming story, which explained that swim records will continue to fall until next year, when the high-tech bodysuits are no longer allowed. The head: Bodysuits to sink one more wave of records.
I just edited the story for the Winston-Salem Dash, the local minor-league baseball team. The story was fine, and the headline was relatively easy, but I really struggled with the box. I'm having trouble with tabs, and a co-worker helped me out.
I had to do a lot of editing to get the auto-racing notebook to fit. I wanted to make sure I got the headline right and get every bit of the story in there.
We got the major-league baseball and the local auto racing story from Bowman Gray Stadium. The Nationwide Series racing story was our last file, and I did it.
Naturally.
We're outta here.
Friday, July 24, 2009
What I do, take two
I recently wrote a blog about what I do as an editor, and I've read that thing four or five times since. It was pretty good, I guess, but it didn't tell all of it. There's more. Let me try again.
Late last month, I worked a shift on the sports copy desk at the local newspaper. Years ago, I did that almost daily; it had been so long, nearly four years, and I was nervous on my first day back.
But I dove in. I edited local and wire copy; I wrote headlines; I wrote cutlines (they're called captions by non-newspaper folk). We had a guy who was taking stories off the wire and getting a first look at local copy; he's the "slot man" at most papers; here, he's the night editor. We had a guy who handled "agate," the tiny type that takes up a lot of space in sports sections. Another guy was putting together baseball roundups and reading stories.
I handled everything else. I edited the briefs package, tennis stories, golf stories, auto-racing stuff. I battled dull ocpy, trying to spiff it up. I looked for a good headline that would set a story off. In the last half hour, I fought the clock. I "heard" a timer in my head as I raced to meet the midnight deadline. Sometimes you do more stories in the last 45 minutes than you do in the six hours leading up.
At the end of the night, I'd edited more stories than anyone there. Did I get a compliment? Well, I was reminded that I didn't edit two stories exactly the way they wanted them. Nice try, ace; do better next time. He was very nice about it; he wants me back.
When I'm not making cameo appearances at the newspaper, I'm doing other editing. I do the obvious: I look for typos, misspellings and factual errors. But it goes far beyond that.
While editing and vetting a novel last year, I quickly realized that the author had an Army general using a rifle to kill snipers. I told her that it was her business, but a general would never be put in that situation. A colonel? Maybe, but not likely. A major? Possibly.
She laughed. It turns out that she knew that a general would never be caught with a rifle shooting snipers. She hoped that no one would catch it. If I caught it, she said, someone else would; so she turned the general into a major. The storyline immediately became more believable.
One of her characters was a double agent, and she'd use one name part of the time and the other name at other times. I found it confusing, and I told her so. I also reminded her to occasionally add that Joe is a colleague and Jim is a relative; in fact, it wouldn't hurt to give the full name, Joe Martin and Jim Bronson, or whatever the names are. In a 300-page novel, the reader needs help in remembering characters.
In another book, this one about ancient Egypt, she had a character whose name didn't seem to fit the time and place. She changed it.
Most of my work is grunt work, whether it's in fiction or non-fiction books, letters, web sites, term papers or whatever. I look for parallel construction, changes of tense, tangled sentences. If I find a 50-word sentence, I'll look for ways to convert it to a least two and preferably three or more sentences.
I look for the quickest and simplest way to say something.
I ask questions: Does the writer need "utilize" when "use" will do? Can we say this in 50 or 100 fewer words? Is this sentence clear? Can we make it crystal clear?
Is this comma necessary? Should it be a semicolon or a dash? On further review, would this sentence be better with a comma? Is the writer using too many exclamation and question marks?
The author mentioned above had trouble with punctuation. She'd have a quote with a question or exclamation mark AND a comma -- "We never eat out anymore. Why is that?," Martha asked. She didn't need the comma.
I've been pleased with her improvement. I find fewer typos and outright mistakes. Her copy's cleaner and easier to read.
Recently, I've been "Americanizing" British non-fiction books for sale in the Americas. I change "favour" to "favor," "maximise" to "maximize," and "behaviour" to "behavior." "Loo" becomes "toilet"; "solicitor" turns into "lawyer", and "lift" becomes "elevator." With the help of Google, British slang is translated, and when I can, I change soccer analogies to baseball, basketball and American football. It works better for U.S. audiences.
I do more than that, of course, but you get a flavour, no, flavor of what I do.
I remind the writer to proofread and edit his/her work a few minutes and a few days later, time permitting. I tell writers to always get a second or third pair of eyes on your work, and don't trust Aunt Jane or Uncle Bernie. A professional editor can make your writing sparkle and make you look good.
It's all part of editing, and it's rarely easy. Whether I'm editing a book, rewriting a web site or working the sports copy desk, my job is to help the writer and the reader. I can make the writer's writing shine. My headline, if it's good, can draw in the reader. And my editing will help the reader get the most information in the easiest manner.
It's an invisible job, but the writer can't do his job without me.
(NOTE: You can find more blogs like this at http://tg-editor-proofreader.blogspot.com/.)
Late last month, I worked a shift on the sports copy desk at the local newspaper. Years ago, I did that almost daily; it had been so long, nearly four years, and I was nervous on my first day back.
But I dove in. I edited local and wire copy; I wrote headlines; I wrote cutlines (they're called captions by non-newspaper folk). We had a guy who was taking stories off the wire and getting a first look at local copy; he's the "slot man" at most papers; here, he's the night editor. We had a guy who handled "agate," the tiny type that takes up a lot of space in sports sections. Another guy was putting together baseball roundups and reading stories.
I handled everything else. I edited the briefs package, tennis stories, golf stories, auto-racing stuff. I battled dull ocpy, trying to spiff it up. I looked for a good headline that would set a story off. In the last half hour, I fought the clock. I "heard" a timer in my head as I raced to meet the midnight deadline. Sometimes you do more stories in the last 45 minutes than you do in the six hours leading up.
At the end of the night, I'd edited more stories than anyone there. Did I get a compliment? Well, I was reminded that I didn't edit two stories exactly the way they wanted them. Nice try, ace; do better next time. He was very nice about it; he wants me back.
When I'm not making cameo appearances at the newspaper, I'm doing other editing. I do the obvious: I look for typos, misspellings and factual errors. But it goes far beyond that.
While editing and vetting a novel last year, I quickly realized that the author had an Army general using a rifle to kill snipers. I told her that it was her business, but a general would never be put in that situation. A colonel? Maybe, but not likely. A major? Possibly.
She laughed. It turns out that she knew that a general would never be caught with a rifle shooting snipers. She hoped that no one would catch it. If I caught it, she said, someone else would; so she turned the general into a major. The storyline immediately became more believable.
One of her characters was a double agent, and she'd use one name part of the time and the other name at other times. I found it confusing, and I told her so. I also reminded her to occasionally add that Joe is a colleague and Jim is a relative; in fact, it wouldn't hurt to give the full name, Joe Martin and Jim Bronson, or whatever the names are. In a 300-page novel, the reader needs help in remembering characters.
In another book, this one about ancient Egypt, she had a character whose name didn't seem to fit the time and place. She changed it.
Most of my work is grunt work, whether it's in fiction or non-fiction books, letters, web sites, term papers or whatever. I look for parallel construction, changes of tense, tangled sentences. If I find a 50-word sentence, I'll look for ways to convert it to a least two and preferably three or more sentences.
I look for the quickest and simplest way to say something.
I ask questions: Does the writer need "utilize" when "use" will do? Can we say this in 50 or 100 fewer words? Is this sentence clear? Can we make it crystal clear?
Is this comma necessary? Should it be a semicolon or a dash? On further review, would this sentence be better with a comma? Is the writer using too many exclamation and question marks?
The author mentioned above had trouble with punctuation. She'd have a quote with a question or exclamation mark AND a comma -- "We never eat out anymore. Why is that?," Martha asked. She didn't need the comma.
I've been pleased with her improvement. I find fewer typos and outright mistakes. Her copy's cleaner and easier to read.
Recently, I've been "Americanizing" British non-fiction books for sale in the Americas. I change "favour" to "favor," "maximise" to "maximize," and "behaviour" to "behavior." "Loo" becomes "toilet"; "solicitor" turns into "lawyer", and "lift" becomes "elevator." With the help of Google, British slang is translated, and when I can, I change soccer analogies to baseball, basketball and American football. It works better for U.S. audiences.
I do more than that, of course, but you get a flavour, no, flavor of what I do.
I remind the writer to proofread and edit his/her work a few minutes and a few days later, time permitting. I tell writers to always get a second or third pair of eyes on your work, and don't trust Aunt Jane or Uncle Bernie. A professional editor can make your writing sparkle and make you look good.
It's all part of editing, and it's rarely easy. Whether I'm editing a book, rewriting a web site or working the sports copy desk, my job is to help the writer and the reader. I can make the writer's writing shine. My headline, if it's good, can draw in the reader. And my editing will help the reader get the most information in the easiest manner.
It's an invisible job, but the writer can't do his job without me.
(NOTE: You can find more blogs like this at http://tg-editor-proofreader.blogspot.com/.)
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Working the desk
I've been working two nights a week on the sports copy desk at the local newspaper. Normally, I write about it on my editing/proofreading blog, but tonight I'm switching to my writing blog.
It should be a relatively easy night tonight -- knock on wood. I'm putting together the major-league baseball roundup, doing an auto-racing notes package, putting together a golf roundup, and picking a baseball separate.
Let me explain the baseball part of that: We only have seven baseball games that we can get in time for our press run. One will be Mark Buerhle's perfect game, which will go on the front. Five will go in the baseball roundup, and one game will be pulled out as a separate.
My big story was the story about the high school cross-country championships leaving Winston-Salem for Cary, N.C. That's big for me, because I've covered the championships four times. Won't cover them again.
I've already edited two Tour de France stories -- Lance Armstrong fell more than five minutes behind leader Alberto Contador, and Armstrong is starting a new RadioShack team next year.
I also edited several auto-racing stories, plus stories on swimming and Gold Cup soccer.
In the Winston-Salem Dash minor-league baseball story, I looked up the spelling of Dash player Dale Mollenahauer. The "a" was unnecessary for Mollenhauer.
We've finished the baseball and golf roundups, so we're putting the finishing touches on the section.
We're done. I'm outta here.
It should be a relatively easy night tonight -- knock on wood. I'm putting together the major-league baseball roundup, doing an auto-racing notes package, putting together a golf roundup, and picking a baseball separate.
Let me explain the baseball part of that: We only have seven baseball games that we can get in time for our press run. One will be Mark Buerhle's perfect game, which will go on the front. Five will go in the baseball roundup, and one game will be pulled out as a separate.
My big story was the story about the high school cross-country championships leaving Winston-Salem for Cary, N.C. That's big for me, because I've covered the championships four times. Won't cover them again.
I've already edited two Tour de France stories -- Lance Armstrong fell more than five minutes behind leader Alberto Contador, and Armstrong is starting a new RadioShack team next year.
I also edited several auto-racing stories, plus stories on swimming and Gold Cup soccer.
In the Winston-Salem Dash minor-league baseball story, I looked up the spelling of Dash player Dale Mollenahauer. The "a" was unnecessary for Mollenhauer.
We've finished the baseball and golf roundups, so we're putting the finishing touches on the section.
We're done. I'm outta here.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
What do Michael Jackson and my dog have in common?
I know that's a provocative headline, and I wrote it intentionally. But there's a reason.
A few years ago, I was watching my dog Lady do her pee dance. It's part of a dog's marking territory ritual, and Lady is a stylist. Most dogs do a few weak scratches; she's exceptional.
Sometimes Lady will do what I call her levitation pee dance. It's so violent that she actually has all four paws off the ground at a time, and you don't want to be "downwind" of her. You'll be in the line of fire from rocks, gravel, dirt and grass.
Recently, we were at the dog park, and she was about to perform a pee dance. This little terrier was behind her, I guess to sniff her butt, and she did one of her powerful pee dances in which two legs work at a time and she "backs up." The little dog took grass and dirt in the face as Lady moonwalked.
It brought laughs from the terrier's owners, and Lady strutted away proudly. The terrier followed her, and, for a moment, I thought of Michael Jackson.
A few years ago, I was watching my dog Lady do her pee dance. It's part of a dog's marking territory ritual, and Lady is a stylist. Most dogs do a few weak scratches; she's exceptional.
Sometimes Lady will do what I call her levitation pee dance. It's so violent that she actually has all four paws off the ground at a time, and you don't want to be "downwind" of her. You'll be in the line of fire from rocks, gravel, dirt and grass.
Recently, we were at the dog park, and she was about to perform a pee dance. This little terrier was behind her, I guess to sniff her butt, and she did one of her powerful pee dances in which two legs work at a time and she "backs up." The little dog took grass and dirt in the face as Lady moonwalked.
It brought laughs from the terrier's owners, and Lady strutted away proudly. The terrier followed her, and, for a moment, I thought of Michael Jackson.
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