When we consider deviant forms of literary practice - e.g. plagiarism, forgery and hoaxes - it is clear to all that these have a moral dimension; after all, they involve questions of theft, fraud and deception. But what about the more standard forms: translation, editing, and the craft of writing itself? There are interesting moral questions to consider here as well. Translations are judged according to the degree of (un)faithfulness to the original. Editing is essentially presumptive - no-one would dare to finish a painting for an artist or a sonata for a composer. And the very act of writing raises questions of duty and responsibility - to oneself and one's audience.
These are the interesting issues that Dr Robert Nichols will discuss at the general meeting on Wednesday, 27 August, 6.00 for 6.30 pm, in the Friends Lounge at the National Library of Australia.
Next meeting
Conference reports
CASE meets in Brisbane
One thing and another
Training: Introduction to copyediting
Review: The on-screen editing handbook
Time to smile
AGM
Dates for your diary
Deadline and copyright
The overriding impression this conference left with me was one of forward movement, in every sense of the word. We are moving forward to accreditation, which should be a fait accompli inside twelve months, thanks to the efforts of Janet Mackenzie and her team. With Renée Otmar, we are moving forward to a marketing and public relations policy that will put editors on the map, and help to move them up the ladder of recognisability and recognition.
We are moving forward to new tools for editing the books and other documents that may be beyond the ken even of Bill Gates, let alone Gutenberg - sessions by Loma Snooks and Victoria Richardson were illuminating.
On a lighter note, I personally moved forward, backward and sideways when swung, swished and swooped by my dance partner Janet Salisbury at the conference dinner, and, if this wasn't sufficient exercise, I counted at least twelve steps, upward and downward, for every entry and exit to and from the conference theatre, breakfast and lunch rooms and accommodation.
The 'moving forward' theme was set for me by the fabulous opening entertainment - keeping up with Christine Johnson ... oops, JohnsTon's constantly forward-moving overheads and accompanying Borge-esque editorial sounds and bird calls was notice to us all of what to expect - and we were not disappointed. Congratulations to Robin Bennett and the Queensland society.
Brian Johns, AO, best known perhaps as a former managing director of our treasured ABC, got this conference under way with an inspiring keynote address. He set a high standard, which, to my reckoning, was maintained for the whole meeting. The conference was officially opened by the Hon. Matt Foley, Minister for Employment, Training and Youth, and Minister for the Arts, in the Queensland Government. He too gave a very stimulating and thought-provoking address, with a goodly leaven of humour.
The program was immensely interesting, though one had to make some hard choices when the concurrent sessions began. The Queensland society plans to put on its website at <www.editorsqld.com> all papers presented. Listening to discussions in a plenary session on marketing and in the closing session, one sensed a new atmosphere of professionalism and commonality of interest among participants. If that is so, it augurs well.
The Queensland society in general, and conference convener Robin Bennett in particular, deserve all praise. Thanks are also due to John Wiley & Sons and others for their generous sponsorship of the conference.
The title of Victoria Richardson's session was 'Digital Inspiration: techniques for editing screen-based documents'. Victoria is the creative force behind Netimpact Online Publishing, which specialises in digital document design.
Although I cannot reproduce either Victoria's easily comprehensible slides or her bubbly personality, her talk struck a chord with others, as well as with me, when she said that her job was to assist those suffering from 'infoglut' or information overload. As editors, part of our job is to help authors assemble their material in a user-friendly manner on-screen, as well as in more traditional ways.
An understanding of the way in which people read documents on the screen can help us to use such techniques as intuitive navigation and appropriate information design to make the reading and accessing of documents more manageable. Some practical tips on paper-to-screen document conversion were included, as well as references to some valuable website resources for editors.
In one of the last, but one of the liveliest, sessions at the conference, long-time editor Nick Hudson spoke about the gender trap and dealing with changes in grammar and usage. In addition to running his own firm, Hudson Publishing, Nick is the author of several books on language, including Modern Australian Usage (OUP). He lectures at RMIT on publishing and related fields, and is a regular guest on Radio National's Lingua Franca.
Nick spoke about 'the anguished business of copyediting'. How does the editor respond to usage change? Nick's advice is not to fight for causes that have already been lost. This advice is echoed by Elizabeth Murphy in this month's 'One thing and another …' - alas, the last in this series.
In a humorous set of examples, Nick demonstrated how the English language is abused. Four of these stand out in my mind. The first one was: 'Like so many simple solutions to editorial problems, this one begs the question.' Nick pointed out that the second clause should be 'invites the question', for the simple reason that a statement 'begs the question' if it forces the hearer to ask a supplementary question, or improperly assumes the answer to a prior question.
Example 2 involved tense and the subtle difference in meaning that it can cause. 'When she was a young princess, Elizabeth had many suitors whom she may have married.' The writer obviously meant 'whom she might have married'.
We might do well to remember that gender is not equivalent to sex; otherwise we would be tempted to write such sentences as 'There are toilets for both genders at the back of the hall' and 'On crossing the Channel, the French encounter the problem of grappling with a third sex.'
Nick also discussed, as does Elizabeth, the vexing questions of whether to use fewer or less and that or which. Other grammatical points Nick discussed were the subjective vs the objective use of pronouns (you and I vs you and me) and whether we should say: 'Do you mind my treading on your toes?' or 'Do you mind me treading on your toes?'. But no matter how optimistic you feel, take care not to say or write a sentence such as 'Speaking of the weather, the sun will shine tomorrow'.
Nick's advice was for editors to continue doing what they do best: correcting legitimate errors. However, editors need to be aware of changes in usage and incorporate them in their editorial decisions. To do otherwise is to risk being labelled a pendant.
Bryony Cosgrove is a freelance editor specialising in biography and autobiography. She has worked with Ruth Cracknell, Barbara Blackman and Susan Vargas among others. In her session, 'Get a life - editing biographies and autobiographies', Bryony advised colleagues to be aware of the history of any manuscript they are given, particularly when dealing with this genre. Was the manuscript commissioned, was it acquired through an expensive auction and does it live up to expectations? Is it a final draft, complete with footnotes, copyright clearances and a libel check? Has the author worked with an editor previously, and how will this collaboration proceed? If the publication has a ghostwriter, will the editor be working with both writers? What is the perceived market, the allocated budget and the schedule?
There were three other pieces of valuable advice:
1. All writers have sections or themes in their manuscripts that they refuse to alter or remove. If an editor can identify these and work out why the author wants to keep them, the structural editing proceeds more smoothly. Learn when to leave well alone!
2. Editors are often privy to highly personal information, so it is essential that authors should not only be able to trust the editor's judgment but also their understanding of confidentiality. If in doubt, ask an author to give a reading copy to any partner or friend who might appear prominently in the text.
3. Remember Barbara Blackman's words in the prologue to her autobiography Glass after Glass: 'One life has many autobiographies. It depends how one sinks one's shaft of remembering …' and be sensitive to that thought.
Bryony concluded her highly professional presentation with a story - told against herself - that demonstrates the perfection for which we all strive but which eludes us most of the time. Her current work is with a well-known actor based in the Sydney region and, as she lives in Melbourne, the work is progressing via email and phone. One day, as chapter versions flew through cyberspace while she tidied and tweaked, there came a delighted email from her author: 'You really can't help yourself, can you?' he chortled. 'You've just edited your own work!'
Ed Highley, CASE delegate, reports on the latest CASE meeting
The Council of Australian Societies of Editors (CASE) is an informal association of all the state and territory societies of editors. Details of the aims, aspirations and activities of CASE can be found on our website at <www.editorscanberra.org>. CASE delegates (the presidents of the various societies, or their nominees) met in Brisbane during the recent National Editors Conference, organised on behalf of CASE by the Society of Editors (Queensland).
Though this was the first face-to-face meeting of CASE delegates since October 2001, remarkable progress has been made by the Council on several fronts over the past two years, through email messaging and teleconferencing. Among the topics discussed were the Australian Standards for Editing Practice (ASEP), accreditation, promotional strategies, operational aspects of CASE, future conferences and training. Notes on discussions and outcomes follow.
A subcommittee was formed to review ASEP. The convener is Shelley Kenigsberg of the NSW society. All the societies are invited to contribute to this review, which will seek to make any realignments to the standards needed to accommodate changes in practice since 2001.
It was noted that there was generally strong support for moves towards accreditation from participants in the national conference being held at the same time as the CASE meeting. Delegates reported similar sentiments from their own societies. The CASE Accreditation Working Group was commended.
Societies have from now until the end of November 2003 to workshop and discuss the accreditation scheme proposed (a paper documenting the proposal is on our website). We need to organise to do this. Between November and the end of February 2004, the working group will consider comments from the societies, redraft the proposal and present an amended version for a formal vote by the members of the societies.
Again, it was noted that there was strong support at the national conference for a campaign to promote the profession across the nation. The idea is not to have a 'national campaign' but rather to have a national strategy that provides the tools for the individual societies to better promote the work of their members and the profession.
Responses to a survey on promotional issues conducted during the conference have been collated, analysed, summarised and reported by Renée Otmar (Vic.). Her report is on our website.
Each society is to nominate a delegate to a working group on promotion. Volunteers are sought to join this group, whose activities should be full of interest. The overall aim of this group will be to draft a strategic plan and develop a promotional 'kit' by March 2004.
From discussions at the conference, it seemed clear to delegates that there is good support for 'formalising' CASE as a 'real' entity.
Participants in the closing session of the national conference were near unanimous in resolving:
To recommend to CASE that efforts be made to:
- establish a national body within two years (i.e. by July 2005)
- organise another national conference within two years.
The first part of this recommendation is a little misleading, insofar as we already have a national body in CASE. What this is saying in practice is that CASE, or whatever a national body might be called, needs money and a bank account. There were no decisions made at the CASE meeting on where this money might come from, but clearly, since CASE is owned by the societies and should remain so, the societies must be the main source of funding. They already support CASE by providing support to their delegates attending CASE meetings. The matter of money raised a whole raft of issues, perhaps the most interesting one being the need, if CASE is formalised, to harmonise the membership fees for the various societies. Some of the following points also have to do with money.
The societies were asked to investigate the availability of local funding/grant sources, and to report on this to the CASE secretary by the end of September.
CASE needs to develop a formula for the distribution of profit or losses from its national conferences, starting with the one in Brisbane. One suggestion that seemed to attract support was that the host society take 30 per cent of the profit, with the balance distributed to the other societies. The same formula might apply to losses, but there needs to be a 'safety net' to protect the societies against particularly large losses due to, for example, transport strikes, disasters and, unlikely though it might be, incompetent management.
Karen Disney (SA) is to convene a working group to look at models for national/state organisations, as background to formalisation of CASE.
A CASE website was seen as essential. On behalf of our society, I volunteered to get this under way, and the URL <www.case-editors.org> has been reserved. Work to establish the site will need to be funded by the societies. My company, Clarus Design, has agreed to do the work at nominal rates and to host the site on its server. Initially at least, the site would function primarily as a portal to the websites of the state and territory societies, and with basic information about CASE. The most that the largest society would be up for to establish such a site would be around $70; the smaller societies would pay proportionately less.
CASE delegates recommended that a national conference be held every two years. Tasmania has indicated that it would like to host the 2007 conference, in conjunction with the celebration of its tenth anniversary. Victoria indicated that it might host the 2005 event.
Regular teleconferences of CASE delegates were recommended, the next such to be held in early December.
CASE is asking all societies to routinely post training course notices to editalk, the online discussion forum hosted by the South Australian Society: <www.editors-sa.org.au/editalk.htm>.
It is also asking societies to conduct a training skills audit, and to convey the results to CASE. The aim here is to build a national database of training skills. Our training coordinator might like to follow up on this. Any information collected would be useful to our own group as well as to CASE.
Following the completion of the term of Cathy Gray (NSW) as secretary, Michael Kuter (Qld) has taken the reins. Michael can be contacted at <mrekuter@yahoo.com>.
Last month I wrote about writing in plain English. This isn't the end of the story, of course. This month I thought I'd look at some of the rules of usage and try to identify what are genuine rules and what are not. I am not a prescriptive grammarian - I am a descriptive linguist. As such, I recognise that what might have been unacceptable usage years ago is now perfectly acceptable. English is a living language, so things change all the time. Perhaps the most obvious 'rule' that we have seen change recently is the 'different from/to/than' one. When I was at school, the only acceptable form for writing was different from. Gradually, different to became acceptable in writing, but the jury is still out on different than, which seems to be acceptable in speech now but not yet in formal writing.
There are some real rules - that is, those whose violation would label you as a writer of non-standard English. Here are some of the constructions that should be avoided in formal writing:
double negatives - He didn't never attend university. The crashed aircraft was proved to have had hardly no maintenance in the last three months.
non-standard verb forms - He bidded for the house at the auction sale. She hadn't ever knew anyone so kind before. I would of helped if you had of asked me.
double comparatives - Your second effort was better than the first, but this is more better still. The music in the second half of the concert was much more livelier than that in the first half.
misuse of adjectives for adverbs - The new assistant is working real good now. This job is urgent, so please finish it quick.
redundant subjects - These plans, they need more detailed work. The weather, it's been very cold lately.
pronoun case muddles - Tom, Jack and myself were selected for the team. Her and me will look at your problem for you.
Subject-verb disagreement - The entire shelf of books and papers were about to topple. Jim and the other boy, Peter, was asked to put the storybooks away.
There are others, but these are the traps that many people fall into. When we write, as opposed to when we have a conversation, we have to use the constructions that most people know and use - shared knowledge and shared understanding of what is acceptable. But there are many other so-called rules that are not rules at all, but some kind of folklore. I get asked questions about them in the courses I run, so I thought I'd share a few of them with you.
'Never begin a sentence with and or but.'
Why not? Here's a very telling piece of writing that uses both:
But, I hear you ask, is courtesy not an individual characteristic, infinitely variable as to its practice? And if that is so, how can any manual on etiquette provide guidance?
'Never begin a sentence with because.'
This 'rule' presumably came about as a way of preventing the writing of fragments, as in 'Because I don't want to. It's raining, and I'll get wet if you make me go out.' Good writers can avoid fragments, and have no trouble using because at the beginning of a sentence and using appropriate punctuation: 'Because we have access to the Internet, we learn about world events more quickly than ever before.'
'Use that, not which, for restrictive clauses when referring to an inanimate referent.'
Nonsense. These two examples are both perfectly correct:
This is a situation which demands immediate action.
This is a situation that demands immediate action.
'Between is only used with two, among with three or more.'
That certainly used to be a real rule, but it's gone out of the window now. It's OK to write: 'There was agreement between the leaders of Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom about recent Middle East military action.'
'Less for uncountable, fewer for countable nouns'
My generation will probably stick to that injunction, but even the best writers are now using less in places where fewer might once have been preferred: 'On no less than five occasions'; 'There were less people in the stands than I would have expected.' There is a definite shift happening here from fewer to less, though fewer will still be restricted to countable nouns.
'Wishful thinking requires the subjunctive form of the verb.'
You may be glad to know that the subjunctive mood has all but disappeared into history. No longer will Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof have to sing 'If I were a rich man …': he can now sing 'If I was a rich man …' But what does this removal of a whole mood do to the richness of the English language?
Because English changes all the time, 'rules' come and go. At any given time, we are in a state of flux about one usage or another. Idiom is the word used to mean the usage characteristic of a particular form or dialect of a language - acceptability at a particular time too.
Writing is no less clear, graceful or grammatically correct if it ignores a few ancient prescriptions or proscriptions. And good writing isn't only a matter of these rather mechanical aspects that I've been concentrating on. See, a preposition at the end of a sentence, no less! Followed by a fragment (well, two fragments!) This is the last in this series of articles - thank you for the interest you have shown in them.
Elizabeth Murphy
An introductory copyediting course will be held on Friday, 12 September.
CIT lecturer Helen Topor will be taking us through the basics, teaching us what a copyedit entails and how to go about the task efficiently. The importance of subject knowledge and different levels of edit will be included.
Participants are invited to bring along a sample of some material, specialist or otherwise, for copyediting. Please also bring along a dictionary and the 6th edition of the Style Manual.
Afternoon tea is included. Please advise of any dietary restrictions when you register.
Time: 1.30 to 5.00 pm on 12 September
Place: CREEDA - Canberra Business Centre, Bradfield St, Downer
Cost: $60 members, $120 non-members
Registration must be received by 6 September.
Tertiary Press, Croydon, Vic., 2003
89pp. - $22.50 - ISBN 0-86458-310-9
The On-screen Editing Handbook explains the process of making changes to text-based documents using Microsoft Word. The handbook assumes a working knowledge of Word. The Word features and commands referred to are available in Word 6/95, 97, 2000 and 2002.
The handbook is designed for both PC and Mac users. However, some of the features and commands may be accessed differently, depending on which version of Word is used. This publication is aimed at writers and editors working on their own or other people's texts, and for people who regularly work with text-based documents and who want to use some of the time-saving features of Word.
According to the author, the methods outlined in the handbook reflect what today's publishing industry requires of both writers and editors. The blurb states that Michele Sabto has worked as 'editor and managing editor of books for the tertiary education and general consumer market. As an in-house editor with Oxford University Press, she was an early adopter of on-screen editing, delivering professional training on the subject to freelance editors and proofreaders'.
The On-screen Editing Handbook contains six chapters.The first five cover the basic steps of on-screen editing:
The final chapter is 'a grab bag of tips and tricks' designed to save the editor time, enhance accuracy, and streamline the editing process. There are two appendixes: the first provides a sample design brief and the second outlines steps in the pre-production process.
Chapter 1, Managing files (pp. 5-11), explains how to manage the files associated with a manuscript. It looks at setting up and naming folders and files for greater efficiency and ease of access. It also discusses suitable folder and file structures for different sorts of manuscripts and explains how to merge multiple documents into one file.
The second chapter, Removing redundant spacing (pp. 12-18), shows how to use Word's Find and Replace feature to remove unnecessary spaces in the manuscript. It also briefly discusses Word styles. These are covered in greater detail in the following chapter.
Chapter 3, Creating and applying styles (pp. 19-52), explains the role of styles in on-screen editing and the pre-production process, and shows how to create, format, modify and apply styles. Also discussed are shortcuts for applying styles, how to treat tabbed text and how to style tables.
The next chapter, Editing with Track Changes and Comments (pp. 53-62), discusses the 'nuts and bolts' of on-screen editing: how to use the Track Changes feature to make your changes to the manuscript visible to authors, and how to display revision marks on the screen and/or hard copy. Also discussed are display options and the process of accepting or rejecting changes. In addition, this chapter shows how to make editorial queries using Word's Comments feature.
Publishing houses are increasingly expecting writers to supply manuscripts prepared on a computer. Chapter 5, Working with authors (pp. 63-7), covers the process of sending the author the edited manuscript, instructing the author on how to make electronic changes to the edited manuscript, and taking the author's changes into the edited manuscript before sending the polished document to the publishing house and the designer.
Chapter 6, Other Word features (pp. 68-81), includes inserting page and section breaks, viewing and creating footnotes or endnotes, setting footnote or endnote numbering options, checking heading hierarchy, creating an automated table of contents, creating and attaching a template, and recording and running a macro.
This wiro-bound handbook comes in a handy A5 format. Its presentation is attractive, uncluttered and consistent, and the style clear and concise. The easy-to-follow instructions supported by appropriate screen snapshots, and useful tips, shortcut keys and cross-references make the handbook useful to both the novice and the more experienced computer user.
Unfortunately, despite its many strengths, The On-screen Editing Handbook is not free of the occasional proofreading lapse: 'One space is after a full-stop is sufficient.' (p. 13); '… the Paragraph dialog box' and '…the Paragraph dialog box' (p. 28); and on the same page 'body text paragraphs' and 'body-text paragraphs'.
More importantly, perhaps, when discussing the creation of styles, Sabto could have chosen a consistent and readable way to name the various levels of headings used in a manuscript. For example, I found Aheads, Bheads and Cheads (when presented together) more readable than aheads, bheads and cheads (especially when presented separately). A hyphen may have been more useful.
Nevertheless, The On-screen Editing Handbook is a valuable tool. Effective on-screen editing can streamline the editing process, saving time spent liaising with authors over changes, and making the process of design and typesetting more efficient.
I recommend this handbook to all editors and writers who wish to be part of the future of publishing by engaging more effectively with the new technology and exploring its potential.
Helen Topor
By James Sherman
We take you now to the Oval Office …
George: Condi! Nice to see you. What's happening?
Condi: Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China.
George: Great. Lay it on me.
Condi: Hu is the new leader of China.
George: That's what I want to know.
Condi: That's what I'm telling you.
George: That's what I'm asking you. Who is the new leader of
China?
Condi: Yes.
George: I mean the fellow's name.
Condi: Hu.
George: The guy in China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The new leader of China.
Condi: Hu is leading China.
George: Now whaddya' asking me for?
Condi: I'm telling you Hu is leading China.
George: Well, I'm asking you. Who is leading China?
Condi: That's the man's name.
George: That's who's name?
Condi: Yes.
George: Will you or will you not tell me the name of the new
leader of China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yasser? Yasser Arafat is in China? I thought he was in
the Middle East.
Condi: That's correct.
George: Then who is in China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yasser is in China?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Then who is?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yasser?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Look, Condi. I need to know the name of the new leader
of China. Get me the Secretary General of the UN on the phone.
Condi: Kofi?
George: No, thanks.
Condi: You want Kofi?
George: No.
Condi: You don't want Kofi.
George: No. But now that you mention it, I could use a glass
of milk. And then get me the UN.
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Not Yasser! The guy at the UN.
Condi: Kofi?
George: Milk! Will you please make the call?
Condi: And call who?
George: Who is the guy at the UN?
Condi: Hu is the guy in China.
George: Will you stay out of China?!
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: And stay out of the Middle East! Just get me the guy
at the UN.
Condi: Kofi.
George: All right! With cream and two sugars. Now get on the
phone.
(Condi picks up the phone.)
Condi: Rice, here.
George: Rice? Good idea. And a couple of egg rolls, too. Maybe
we should send some to the guy in China. And the Middle East. Can you
get Chinese food in the Middle East?
The society's AGM was held on Wednesday, 30 July, at University House, ANU. About thirty members attended the meeting, which commenced with a discussion of committee business, followed by the serious affair of electing the new committee.
Ed Highley and Pete Martensz graciously stepped down as President and Treasurer respectively (largely because they had no choice - the society's Constitution stipulates that those office bearers may not serve for more than two consecutive years).
We welcome our new President Claudia Marchesi, our new Treasurer Louise Oliver and our Catering Coordinator Lucy Tylman. All the other committee members have volunteered to continue in their current posts.
The dinner that followed was a sumptuous affair, with delicious food and fine wine. The atmosphere was convivial and the service impeccable. We liked the venue so much that some members suggested holding next year's AGM there again.
Special thanks go to the two devilettes, Helen Topor and Ann Parkinson, for organising this highly enjoyable night, and to Elizabeth Murphy for supplying the photographs.
Ara Nalbandian
Did you know that from 1949 until 1999, ASIO was known as the Australian Security Intelligence Organization? In 1999 the name was changed to replace the 'z' with an 's' to bring the name more into line with modern Australian practice. It seems that the 'z' was in the original charter. <www.asio.gov.au/About/Timeline/Content/Charter.htm>
Item provided by Greg Baker
27 August: Next meeting - the AGM
12 September: Introductory copyediting course
24 September: September general meeting
The Canberra Editor is published by
Canberra Society of Editors, PO Box 3222, Manuka ACT 2603.
© Canberra Society of Editors 2002. ISSN 1039-3358
The deadline for the next regular issue is 29 August.
Mail contributions on a 3.5 inch disk, using Word for Windows (essential) or email (preferable), to:
Canberra Society of Editors,
PO Box 3222, Manuka ACT 2603
ara.nalbandian@defence.gov.au
If mailing, always provide a printout as well.
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