Up to this point, you have read several different theories of how to define editing/revising. Based on your readings (Before You Begin, the symbol guides, Sommers, and Williams), I want you to define editing/revising in your own words. Support your thinking with at least two of the readings using specific quotes. After reading, discussing, and practicing editing/revising, has your original thinking changed/grown about what it means to be an editor? How and why (or why not)? How does editing/revising enhance your theory of composing? DUE: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 by class time.
From reading the article, “Before you Begin,” the style guides, Sommers and Williams, I can say I have fully understood the knowledge of revising and editing. As it has been explained throughout our readings, editing and revision are two separate guidelines. Revision determines the type of feedback the author receives. It is crucial that the author has the “standpoint” of his or her paper so that their feedback accompanies what the author is trying to say. In the article, “Responding to Student Writing,” the author Nancy Sommers states, “Instead of finding errors or showing students how to patch up parts of their texts, we need to sabotage our students’ conviction that the drafts they have written are complete and coherent.” When editing, it is very important that after receiving the feedback, to make sure that it was the correct type of feedback you were looking forward to hearing. If not, that is when editing comes to play. As revision takes the longest, editing too is time consuming. Editing gives you the chance as an author to basically improve your composition and make sure what is being said is what you want the reader to understand. Saying that, as an author it is your own duty to make sure your point is getting across to your audience.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was reading the article, “The Phenomenology of Error,” by Joseph Williams, I could not help but smile. From his sarcasm to being very straight forward, Williams has a valid point. When revising a paper, Williams talks about the value of what the author is portraying throughout one’s paper. “Value becomes a consideration only when we address the natter of which errors we should notice.” One main concept I have learned about revision and editing is that, the value of one’s paper should remain constant throughout the revision and editing. Saying that, learning how to edit and revise, it has improved my composing abilities.
To me, editing is the perfecting of any piece of work. I consider it to be the final step of the composition process. The last person that views the finished product should be the author, but I think that the editor should complete the finished product. The process of editing is vital because it allows the piece of work to be acceptable for the appropriate audience. I think that revising is the process done by the author before it goes through editing. When revising, I think that is when you fix any sort of grammatical errors. I think that editing is to fix the flow of sentences. The editing process makes sure that the audience easily understands any sort of literature. In Before You Begin, it says, “if the reader is your next-door neighbor (and doesn’t have a seat on the stock exchange), you’ll need to be sure the author explains – simply and clearly – what such terms mean”. In class we discussed the editing of a textbook and why editing is necessary. For an introductory textbook, some things need to be stressed more than in a more advanced book on the same subject. That is why editing is different than revising. Revising is more about little things and editing is prep for the real world. I also think that the style of editing should be changed based on the writer. In Williams’’ essay, he describes how the context of an error could lessen the need for editing. Sommers discusses the way teachers edit and says how students may or not listen to the teacher’s opinions. In the past, whenever a teacher made corrections on my rough drafts I would change everything they commented on in the hopes of getting an A on my paper. After reading about editing, I have come to learn that sometimes too much editing can result in the loss of a voice. She makes the claim, “teachers' comments can take students' attention away from their own purposes in writing a particular text and focus that attention on the teachers' purpose in commenting. Before learning about editing in this class I thought that it was more like revising. After doing the assignment last night I realized that the editing process is necessary to make a piece of writing work for its venue. Editing doesn’t necessarily mean that the original writing is flawed but it just needs tweaking in order to be publishable. Before I used to think that editing was more negative because whenever people get your pride and joy in their hands they can tend to rip it apart but now I see the beauty of editing and know that it’s meant to be positive.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Before You Begin by Sommers and Williams I definitely have a better grasp on editing and revising. The best part about these readings was the symbols and the correct marks to make when you edit a paper. These helped me out a lot with other assignments we had to do. I also learned some new symbols and marks I have never heard of before. These also gave me a better perspective of editing. In the reading it states that, “It is vitally important for an editor to know the intended audience for a piece of writing.” Before I read these readings this was difficult for me to get the hang of. I wouldn’t ever really think about whom I was writing to or who the audience was. I would just write and make myself the audience. “Everyone has limited time, and when it comes to answering questions, people can also have limited patience.” This quote says it all. Whether you are editing someone’s paper or someone is editing yours, fewer is better. As an EWM student I will be dealing with a lot of editing and writing. I have realized even though I am not the best at it I will still have to be patient and learn how to do it correctly. My original thought on editing was that I hated it and never wanted to be a part of it. However, reading these articles has helped me understand who I am as an editor and what is important to me. This would be, not really focusing on every little error but writing what I want to write and inspiring myself with new ideas and letting everything flow. Editing and revising can come last, but I also will do what I need to do to make my work acceptable. @Itsannesanchez said “Editing gives you the chance as an author to basically improve your composition and make sure what is being said is what you want the reader to understand.” I totally agree with this. As a writer myself I always want the reader to be engaged. I often struggle with this like I said above. But every time I edit and revise work I only become better at it.
ReplyDeleteLike I said in my first editing blog post, I didn’t know that editing was such a detailed process before I read about it. I always just thought it consisted of making a few slight changes to a composition, when really, it is much more! I have come to learn that editing and revising is meant to change and make improvements on any composition as well as to provoke the composer to think new thoughts. I learned in Sommers’ “Responding to and Evaluating Student Writing”, that “Most teachers estimate that it takes them at least 20 to 40 minutes to comment on an individual student paper, and those 20 to 40 minutes times 20 students per class, times 8 papers, more or less, during the course of a semester add up to an enormous amount of time”. This is quite a long time spent on editing papers, which to me is a good inclination that it is an important part of the writing process. As students, or just writers in general, we are going to make mistakes and that it okay. Williams says that, “linguistic errors do not ordinarily require that we apologize for them”. It we make an error, we can fix it. There is no need to apologize for it or be ridiculed for it. By knowing how to edit your own work as you would others work, it can strengthen your composing process. You may become better at how you explain what you’re writing about, or even make improvements on your grammar. I had the same thoughts as Sydney before learning about editing, which was that I thought of it more like revising. Revising is making small changes like grammar and spelling, while editing is making large changes to the body of the composition. Obviously, my thoughts have changed. Since reading these few articles about editing I find myself being more conscious about what I am writing. I tend to check my grammar and spelling, as well as re reading my work to make sure it flows. Now, this isn’t always necessary to do. For example, if I am texting a friend, writing on Facebook or Tweeting, I usually won’t edit my message. However, when it comes to writing for school or something I feel to be important, I will use editing. It is such an important process and I feel it necessary for all writers.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading about editing and revision I have developed a definition. Editing is the evaluation of grammatical, organizational, and content errors. The process of editing includes revision. Revision is a component of editing, because it prepares the composition for editing. Nancy Sommers’ “Responding to Student Writing,” explores the connection between teacher commentary and student performance. Research proves that these comments genuinely confuse students. Ultimately students are confused, because of the teacher’s failure to direct honest revisions to the text. Teachers were unaware their comments had such a negative effect on students. Teachers have not been properly instructed on how to edit. Williams, however, wants us to think of editing/language in an entirely different way. His thorough research suggests that readers evaluate errors in many ways. First he illustrates a connection between error and social behavior. Williams revealed a concept better explained by Erving Goffman. The theory suggests that we ought to be able to explain some of these anomalies by subsuming errors of grammar and usage in a more general account of defective social behavior. He discusses the relationship between language and error. I also understand that when a reader reads a text, he or she, has different motives. When reading a composition for typos we tend to forget about context and structure; just as a reader overlooks errors while analyzing content. This concept can come across as puzzling. Williams believes that each person has their own definition of error. Due to the variation, many errors are overlooked and subconsciously preformed. Sommers’ and Williams’s research have expressed the confusion and concepts that surround editing. I agree with Williams, that text should be edited at a pre-reflexive level. How is this done? I believe this is possible when viewing error in different ways. “Think of error: as a variably experienced union of item and response, controlled by the intention to read a text in the way we ordinarily read texts like newspapers, journal, and books.” Now when I think of what it means to be an editor, I tend to quiver in fear. So many errors exist, noticed or not, whether it’s result of a grammarian or carelessness, they need correction. I’d like to refer back to Williams, “when those of us who believe ourselves educated and literate and defenders of good usage thin about language, our zealous defense of ‘good writing’ feels more authentic than our experience of the same items in unreflective experience of a text.” Originally I had no intention of becoming an editor. Now I am reconsidering the possibility. Revision and editing have already enhanced my theory of composing. Both terms are facets of the writing process, and I also believe they deserve more attention. Writers and readers alike have become extremely careless to details. Editing and revision are of extreme importance to composition. For example, when editing/revising the Rolling Stone article, reorganizing the writer’s statements changed the entire tone of the composition. Editing/ revising is powerful and needs to be used correctly.
ReplyDeleteEditing and revising to me are two separate practices. Revising is going through and making little changes that do not dramatically alter a text. Editing is taking a red marker and deleting or completely rewriting sections of text, and altering the flow of the words and sentences. Sommers article focused on how the comments received in a critique can drastically alter the changes a student can and will make. It is important she says to give thoughtful comments and not be vague. I agree with Caroline that after seeing a rough estimate of how much time a teacher spends correcting one paper, it makes the editing process almost, if not more important that composing itself. As an editor my opinion on the process has changed. I know see editing a more intense process that I had previously thought. A lot of careful reading goes into editing to make sure everything is as grammatically correct and structurally sounds as possible. Williams article really struck me with this line “value becomes a consideration only when we address the matter of which errors we should notice” because it reminded me of something Sommers had said. That teachers often do not take into account what a student is writing and the angle they are coming from, therefore their comments are often misleading because they do not understand. I think it is important to know where a writer is coming from, that way as an editor, you can alter your remarks to fit the situation. If the author is being vague in a spot that needs clarification, you can say that because you know the story behind the writing.
ReplyDeleteTo me, editing is the process of fixing, changing, and remodeling your work in order to make it the best it can be. Revising also falls under my definition of editing. I see revising as the actual act of changing your work. When editing, it is important to check for grammatical errors and simple things like that, but we have all recently learned that it is a much more in depth process. Along with grammar, editing involves word choice, sentence structure, fact checking, content, and even the application of other media such as pictures, and graphics. In middle school and high school, I had my first experiences with revising, which were very similar to what Sommers describes. Sommers says, “teachers identify errors in usage, diction, and style in a first draft and ask students to correct these errors when they revise…” This is really the only exposure to revising that I had used up until this point. Due to this class however, I have broadened my horizons, and become aware that revising is much more involved and can be a very lengthy process. One thing that I have always been aware of that Williams describes is word choices. When writing a paper, especially in college, I always find myself using the thesaurus and dictionary tools on my computer. I find them to be very helpful to avoid being repetitive, and to use the right “lingo” for my audience (usually the professor). Until reading about and practicing editing this week, I always naively thought that editing was an easy job. I envisioned myself as an editor, at a big publishing company or magazine, reading others work, and making changes here and there. I didn’t realize how much work actually goes into the revising process and how hard it is to recognize and correct the many potential errors. As Williams states, as writers and editors we are made aware of our mistake, we are expected to acknowledge the error, and, if we have the opportunity, to amend it.” This is what editing and its process is all about. Although I have learned that it is more intense than I expected, I still want to pursue a career in the editing field :) Since I learned what revising was, my theory of writing/composing has always somewhat included it. Of course, until this class, it was a very modified version. In the past, I did was check for spelling and grammar errors, which are ridiculously easy to spot on the Microsoft Word and Pages. I admit that my revising process took less than two minutes. Now however, I am aware that two minutes is definitely not enough, and that revising is just as important as the writing process itself.
ReplyDeleteBefore I read any of the readings that were required for the editing portion of this class, I felt like I had a great concept of what editing and revising are. Revising is more of changing the work. You delete things, you can add things. And sometimes you start all over on the revising process. With editing, an editor is taking the work of a composer and trying to make it be the best it can be. With editing you work with what you have. You change grammar, spelling, the formation of sentences and paragraphs. One important thing about editing though is that you keep it the work the original author’s work. With revision Sommer’s states that it is “responding to students writing” this could be looked at as feedback about the work. The teacher may show you what needs to be changed and how to make the story flow better. In college many teacher focus on revising more than they focus on editing a students work. Editing is something that is held with the student himself as they continue to look over their work for grammatical errors. “Editing tasks fall on a continuum, with proofreading at one end, and substantive editing at the other” this quote out of before you begin, helps to better explain my definition of editing. You are looking at the actual make up of the words. You are checking punctuation, sentence structure, and the way words need to be formed in the past or present tense. Then after this you continue to follow the composer as they change the work and you go back and edit it once again. After actually sitting down in class and working on editing, I understand that the process is a lot longer than I at first had imagined. There are numerous editors who look at the same piece of work. With the different editors, they may all find different things in the work that need to be changed. Editing is greatly a team process because at times the author is not there and you must write a letter to them expressing what you feel needs to be changed. Editing is probably the second biggest part of the editing process in my eyes. After you have composed the work, you have to go in with a microscope and get down to business on what exactly needs to be changed. This is perfecting the work in front of you. I agree with annesanchez about her definitions of what editing and revision are. One is much more of a in depth look at the work and how it is made up while the other is trying to in some ways change the work to better it off. With my theory of composing, I would first put the rhetorical situation, the composition of the work, the editing, then the final master piece. In my eyes editing is a huge part of making a masterpiece.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading different theories of editing and revising I think that not one theory is correct but each theory has a valid point; each reading discusses a different aspect of editing but is important. For example, the Before you Begin piece we read focused more on subtle but still equally important part of editing such as consideration of the audience, deadlines, what kind of format you use, sources to use while editing. Furthermore, Before You Begin discusses the different type of editing and the roles of each. I think an important aspect of editing that the Before you Begin piece addresses are the marks for proofreading. Proofreader’s mark is important because editing can be time consuming and you want to be able to be effective but at the same time, people have to be able to read and understand the edits/corrections you made. Although I thought that Before you Begin definition of editing is true, I found that I learned a lot more new and different aspects of editing with Sommers’ theory of editing. Sommers’ “Responding to a Student” showed me psychology of editing from a teacher’s perspective and Sommers’ reasoning to why teachers edit in a certain way and whether it is effective or not and she goes on to introduce a solution to the problems of certain teacher’s commenting styles. Sommers argues that the language and wording of a teacher’s comments should be clear and text-specific in order to give beneficial feedback and thus your students’ effective writing. Something I thought that was interesting was when she discusses how important teachers’ comments can be especially because your students are may be at different stages of writing and Sommers argues, “Sometimes students do not understand the purpose behind their teachers’ comments and take these comments very literally. At other times students understand the comments, but the teacher has misread the text and the comments, unfortunately, are not applicable.” I think what I took most from her reading is that there are a lot of conditions the teacher has to take into consideration while editing in order to achieve the ultimate goal- guide your students to be able to write more effectively. As a writer, Sommers reiterates the purpose of writing and how we should edit accordingly. Williams’ “Phenomenology of Error” conclusion pretty much sums up his study, “the self-conscious report of what should be counted as an error is certainly an unreliable index to the unself-conscious experience. But it is by far a more satisfying emotion.” Although I don’t feel that it is as important as the other two readings, I think that Williams’ explores a valid theory on editing. Whether we edit or make corrections on someone’s work depends on what we consider as an error and Williams argues that we shouldn’t base our errors (literature, writing) on the same basis of our social errors.
ReplyDeleteI feel that revising and editing are the final components to the writing and composition process. They differ in who actually conducts the two processes. I feel the composer revises their own work prior to having it edited by another source. They reword sentences, change out diction, etc before we send it in to be finally edited. Revision is a process, I feel the best way is to print out whatever it may be and mark it up with the symbols referred to in Ted’s Style Guide rather than just using Microsoft word programs. I find when revising, the most effective ways are sometimes considered are “primitive,” such as reading aloud, highlighting and making notes in the margins. Once the revision process is complete, is when a work is ready to be edited. Those who edit have an advanced knowledge of writing. We edit and revise to improve and to enlighten not only our work but our thoughts as well. I feel the editing process shouldn’t be a complete revision of the original work, yet suggestions and guidance to better the work. In life, we edit and revise more things than we even realize. Each part of a work comes into play and requires attention in the revision process. Audience, draft number and genre all have their own substantial effect on editing. Like we discussed in class, the process of editing a textbook is substantially different than the process of editing a poem. There are factors that come into play such as content and word usage. I believe anyone is capable of editing, no matter how obsolete the judgment may be. An outside opinion on a work can always help, regardless of where it’s coming from. Sommers discusses the role of a teacher in editing. Most importantly, those who edit should remain fair and precise. The purpose of editing isn’t to alter the work entirely, rather to lend a helping hand to guide the student along the way. My thought process on what it means to be an editor has expanded exponentially. Previously, I felt the sole purpose in editing was to point out what you thought was wrong in the piece and word it kindly. I now feel that in editing, it’s necessary to highlight what you feel is right in the work to enhance the writers confidence. Moreover, I feel that when highlighting a fault, there are ways to put it without being a jerk about it. Editing and revising enhance my views on composing because I feel that considering the editing process prior to composing will save time an effort in the final product. Many times people ramble, making little to no point, having to revise their work extensively and suffer harsh editing. If a composer considers their audience and genre before they even start writing, they’ll have a more clear picture of what they want the end result to look like.
ReplyDeleteEditing is a continuous process where you make various changes to produce your final product. Editing is checking for spelling errors, sentence structure, word choice, credible resources, punctuation and the overall flow of the paper. Editing is a vital part of the composing process and these articles have helped me to continually improve my process. Something that has stuck with me is to not edit for more than 6 hours. Having a fresh set of eyes will make sure that you do not skip over any errors or read your paper as it should sound rather than what is actually there. Olivia defined the process of revision as, “Revising is going through and making little changes that do not dramatically alter a text.” This helped me differentiate between revision and editing. Both are extremely important in perfecting your work. Like Julia said in her blog post, my revision process was similar. It was a quick read to see if any mistakes popped out and then I was done. I did not take nearly enough time looking my work over thoroughly trying to perfect it to the best of my ability. Sommers take on editing is tricky. Obviously it is a necessary process but she states that “teachers' comments can take students' attention away from their own purposes in writing a particular text and focus that attention on the teachers' purpose in commenting.” It is important for the writer to not be writing to please the editor. The writer must maintain their voice by not focusing on just the writers’ comments but more of the suggestions. Understanding who your audi ence will be is an important part to editing. An example I gave in a previous blog showing the importance of knowing your audience was if you are writing up a proposal for the CEO of your company presenting an idea that you have, your editing will be more professional. “When you know who the reader will be, you can gauge whether the vocabulary, style, and depth of the material are appropriate or if different words, explanations or presentations are needed.” The proofreading mark chart that was in “Before you Begin” was helpful as a guide for the editing marks that I used in our assignment today on revising the “American Dream” article. After reading these articles, my original idea of editing and revision has completely changed. By realizing that editing is not limited to obvious grammatical errors and just skimming over the finished product, it makes me want to pay more attention to editing and be more thorough in my work.
ReplyDeleteExploration and Efficiency of Composition:
ReplyDelete1) Revising as an Exploration: “…Revision as discovery, as a repeated process of beginning again, as starting out new…” (Responding to Student Writing)
Sommers’ concluding statement of revision as discovery is opposite of that which I’ve read in other comments. I must say that I agree with Sommers in her claim that revision is an explorative step in the process of composing. Discovering new options and routes for a project is a part of revising; a part I never knew existed. Before reading, I considered revising to be the fix-this-fix-that step of editing. I now understand that revision and editing dive into the text together, between the lines and through the letters, to discover a better project beyond the surface of paper and ink.
Revising offers a writer an “out with the old, in with the new” outlook on his/her work. Like Sommers suggests, revision is starting out new. I’ve inferred that while revising, it’s in the writer’s best interest to have a “no strings attached” relationship with the work. For example, if a sentence doesn’t fit in with the rest of the paragraph, no matter how long a writer’s nose was in the thesaurus to get the wording perfect, he/she should get rid of it. A writer getting too attached to his/her words can hold back the revision process by neglecting to be open to new ideas.
2) Editing as Efficiency: “Effective writing needs to be three things—correct, consistent, and clear.” (Before You Begin)
Although this quote is not taken from the main text, but from the introduction to the third chapter, it represents a collection of what Before You Begin taught me. By checking facts and effectively utilizing appropriate references, like The Chicago Manual of Style, an editor will make certain that the work is correct. In the editor’s creation of and reference to a style sheet, the work will be consistent. With the attachment of queries, an editor will gather any answers and clarifications needed in order to make sure the work is clear.
Before You Begin offers a closer look into the specifics of editing. In this reading, my original thoughts on what it means to be an editor grew to new lengths. I knew the general work of an editor and I knew it wasn’t easy, but now I know about the extensive time and energy that an editor and editing team must put into one project. Everything I’ve learned and will learn about editing will change my theory of composing. Editing is a major part of composing and when my knowledge on the subject of editing expands, my understanding of the process of composing expands. Being efficient in editing is how the project is perfected. Like Sydney said, the editing process is very much the perfecting of any work. Being efficient in the journey towards correctness, consistency, and clarity, for both the writer and editor, makes for the perfect composition.
To me, editing and revision are two separate actions that are performed together in order to perfect a piece of writing. After completing the mini assignment #3 where we edited an essay into a magazine article, my ideas of editing and revision have changed. I think that revision should be completed first. Many people may not agree with me on this, but according to Sommers, students should have a “sense of revision as discovery, as a repeated process of beginning again, as starting out new.” What I take from this is that revision is the process when we sit down, look at our papers, and see if we really made the point we were trying to convey. Is this paper organized? Are my thoughts cohesive? What can I expand on? What can I delete and what can I add to make this a more credible and cohesive paper? Am I detailed enough? When I go through the process of revision, I completely pick apart my paper. Sometimes, it leads to deleting a LOT of what I had written. Then, I rewrite many things, add more details, reorganize the paragraphs, etc. I think that revision is the overall editing of the content of a piece of writing. I prefer to edit my papers second. I think of editing as the smaller, more technical corrections made to a paper. In Before You Begin, we are given a list of all of the mechanical corrects for a paper: from punctuation to correct formatting and spacing. I don’t think it is necessary to make the small editing changes to a paper before the revision because, most likely, a good portion of your original draft will be deleted or changed anyway. I think of revision as reinvention of a paper, while I think of editing as the perfection of a paper. Through the readings that we have done this week, my ideas of editing have been completely revamped. I never used to have separate definitions for editing and revision, but now, through a few separate theories, I have realized that they are two tedious and important components of the overall writing process. Also from Sommers’ reading, I have taken away many important ideas about proofreading and commenting on other people’s written work. I realized that detailed feedback that helps the author question their work and create new ideas is essential. Instead of the blasé corrections like “be specific, use precise language,” and “remember the audience,” suggestions for how things should look are better. Asking questions to the author to force them to rethink their paper and revamp all that they have written is a very important thing to do. Overall, my ideas of revision and editing have changed a lot in the past week and I now plan on putting all of the things I’ve learned into practice starting now.
ReplyDeleteI love how all the readings come together at the end. Before You Begin, the symbol guides, Sommers, and Williams have given me a complete understanding of editing and revising. Revision is when an editor goes through and makes comments that help with the clarification of the composition. This can be difficult because the editor must first ACCEPT the author’s purpose and understand the original point. Comments from a third party can lead to the author changing the original purpose. Editing is the process of changing a piece for grammatical or spelling purposes. The editing process ensures that the audience clearly understands your piece and nothing is ambiguous. Last night we read Sommers piece, she said “Instead of finding errors or showing students how to patch up parts of their texts, we need to sabotage our students’ conviction that the drafts they have written are complete and coherent”. Personally when I was a young writer it was difficult for me to accept criticisms of my work. Now, it is essential for the writing process! Editors help you see your work from a different opinion, an opinion your reader may have as well. But Sommers’ quote is the truth. Students should not feel as if after their work has been edited the writing process is over. In high school, that was exactly how I thought. You wrote a paper, someone reviewed it for errors, then BOOM turn it in for a grade. Nowadays students are writing for grades and not to have their opinions heard. After reading, discussing, and practicing editing and revising my thinking has definitely grown. Commenters and editors have to be sure to accept the original content for what it is. When my group did our Rolling Stone project, I was sure to leave the bulk of the content and just fix grammar errors. As an editor, it was not my job to rip the composition to shreds, just recognize what the author is TRYING to say and be sure that message is loud and clear. Caroline I love that you brought up the fact that even as writing majors we do not edit our compositions on facebook or on text messages. Fortunately, phones are able to recognize spelling errors. All in all I think, editing and revising has enhanced my theory of composing. The composing process is never over, of which we kind of knew, but another party must read your work. Writers tend to hold on to much of their work like its baby. Trust me I understand. You want to hold on to everything you write originally, but sometimes it is not the best content to prove your point. Sometimes writers have a serious committed relationship with their composition. It needs to be more so of an open relationship with different partners that can be used when needed to make you look best. (PS: I am in love with my analogy to a relationship) ;)
ReplyDeleteEditing means never having to say you’re sorry. Or at least, that is what Joseph M. Williams wants readers to believe. He spends the first part of his essay comparing grammatical mistakes to actually causing harm to someone, which yields the same reaction in some people, he says. I mostly agree with his view. If you are putting your piece of writing up to be edited, then the editor must do their job to fix the errors. The writer must accept these consequences, and appreciate them for the help they provide for their paper. On the other hand, the editor can’t be afraid of hurting the writer’s feelings. Williams says that one of the errors that we tend to ignore and accept are “the rules that define bedrock standard English”. The use of double negatives and slang are normally just accepted and not worried too much about. Sommers found that sometimes editing can deter the writer, when “teachers’ comments can take students’ attention away from their own purposes in writing a particular text and focus that attention on the teachers’ purpose in commenting”. The experienced writer’s influence is enough to take over the creativity of the writer, if only for a better grade. My definition of editing has changed to be the grammatical, diction, and syntax corrections of a written work, without completely reworking the piece.
ReplyDeleteEditing is the final part of the composing process. It entails correcting any mistakes in grammar, spelling, and phrasing along with problems in formatting or clarity. An editor should communicate effectively with a writer when working on a project because it is important for the writer’s style and original intent to remain unchanged. The editor is there to assist the writer in making sure the audience, the readers, can understand his thoughts. Regarding the reading from Sommers, The role of an editor is similar to that of a teacher in the school system; they help writers “evaluate what they have written and develop control over their writing.” Editing is not to be taken lightly. Having a lot of mistakes or misrepresented information is very damaging to any form of discourse. An editor is first and foremost a reader, and the changes made to a project are the “reader’s response,” as Williams discusses in his article. The editor must place themselves in the perspective of the audience the project is addressing. Doing this insures that the message conveyed by the project can be understood by the audience. We discussed in class about science textbooks and how the material is sometimes too complex to be easily understood by the readers. Editors solve that issue by helping the writer explaining hard concepts in ways the reader understands. The mini assignment that we did this week was a good representation of a real-world editing project. It helped us gain experience and a better understanding of what an editing job really entails. As editors, we read the entire document once and then went through line by line to see what could be changed. If we had contact with the writer himself, it would have made the project easier because we would have been able to get his feedback on the changes made. Yet it is about the little mistakes in discourse, editing is also about looking at the big picture and making sure everything fits. Thus, it is very important to the composing process. I liked the reference Caroline Hughes made to Sommers’ article. Caroline stated, “The purpose of editing isn’t to alter the work entirely, rather to lend a helping hand to guide the student along the way.” Whether it is a student, or professional writer, editing is a process that is crucial to the writer and the piece of discourse.
ReplyDeleteEditing is to read over a composition and check for errors or ways to make it more successful. When you edit a piece, you should not be re-writing it, but looking for things to take out or re-arrange, or re-word. Editing is meant to catch errors in a composition without changing the intentions of the composer. According to Sommers, "as writers we need and want thoughtful commentary to show us when we have communicated our ideas and when not". I think my idea of the importance of editing has changed with this class. I realize now how important it is to write for an audience, which will surely affect the way I edit with this consideration in mind.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Williams, "When we read for typos, letters constitute the field of attention; content becomes virtually inaccessible. When we read for content, semantic struc- tures constitute the field of attention; letters-for the most part-recede from our consciousness". When we edit, we must direct our attention on typos as well as content, because which ever we focus on is what what will be more apparent.
Editing enhances my theory on composing because while composing is your starting point, editing allows you to go back and re-work some things so it will most appeal to an audience. I think the most important aspect of editing is keeping the audience in mind. One must know who the audience is, in order to be beneficial in editing. When editing, one should also remain constructive and give helpful advice, rather than just bashing a piece. The editor should try to understand the process of the composer, and what it is they are trying to convey in the composition. Sometimes you will not like the style of the composition or the subject matter, but what is important is if the composition works for the audience it is seeking. When editing, sometimes you must put your bias away and think through the perspective of the composer.
Up to this point in our composition journey, I have always viewed editing and revising as one and the same concept; the function of which, for me, was the process of reviewing a document for spelling, grammar, and usage errors as well as checking to ensure the content of a text actually flows then making the actual changes. After the readings for this week, my perspective on and definition of both terms has absolutely changed and for the better. Now I see that editing is the final step in the writing process—it is truly the last look at a piece of writing for things like spelling, errors, reference usage, sentence structure, etc. In her essay, Responding to Student Writing, Nancy Sommers refers to editing in terms of the “interlinear comments” most English teachers mark on student papers making suggestions or commands to edit sentence structures within a paragraph, word choice, spelling, or punctuation in sentences. Revision for Sommers is more the “invention draft” of a paper where students are expected to focus on the “organization and logic” of the meaning they want to convey through their text. The main difference between editing and revising, or what I perceived to be the main difference, is that the revision process is ongoing with a lot of back-and-forth motion directed towards arranging text for clarity of meaning in anticipation of the reader’s response, questions, and concerns; whereas, editing focuses on changes necessary to be made in the final draft—Sommers calls the final draft the “text as a fixed piece, frozen in time, that just needs some editing.”
ReplyDeleteThere is also a great bit of depth to each term. According to the chapter entitled, “Before You Begin”, in Gearing Up to Edit, editing consists of different levels (copy editor, proofreader, or senior editor) depending on the type of text, the needs and expectations of the client, the budget, and deadlines. There are also grammar and usage rules that must be adhered to that are contingent on the audience or genre (novel, newspaper, or academic) of the text; this contingency requires the use of references such as Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, The Chicago Manual of Style, MLA, or The Associated Press Stylebook. There are rules of etiquette on how and what to ask the author about parts of the text that may not be clear; a process on how to ensure your editing is effective; and proofreading symbols that dictate the changes that are needed in a text. This may seem a bit much for the types of the writing we produce in the academic arena but we actually use a lot of the same techniques as professional editors. Editing and revision have substantially enhanced my theory of composition; I now view them as two distinct concepts used at different intervals in the writing process (revision is done throughout while editing comes into play in the very end). I agree with Anne’s comment about how, “the [intended meaning in] one’s paper should remain constant throughout the revision and editing,” so that the author’s voice, and not the editor’s, is embedded in the text and not removed from it.
I like to think of editing and revising as taking a piece of writing through a car wash. Even if the car isn't new when it comes out, it looks it for a little while. Based on the articles we've read, I don't think of editing and revising as exactly the same process however. I tend to want to separate editing and revising, the former as more mechanical and the latter as more creative. This is not to say that there isn't significant bleed, but I feel like the fundamental questions are different.
ReplyDeleteAs an example, some questions I ask when I'm revising are:
How is this going to be interpreted?
Is this language 'pretty/creative' enough?
etc.
Where questions I ask while editing are:
Will the audience be able to understand this paragraph?
Does the language accurately convey the meaning?
etc.
These questions do the same thing -- I am aware of that, but, seem to have a different starting point. Perhaps the difference in starting point has to do somewhat with what role I see myself in in working on a piece. A revision is part of the initial composing process, where editing feels more like a process that sits outside the initial composition. Before You Begin touches on this a bit, on page four by defining different types of 'editing' -- although I feel like 'substantiative editing' is more in line with 'revision' in my mind, except in cases where writing is submitted and 'substantiative editing' takes place by someone other than the composer.
The style guides also point to the fact that editing is mechanical -- proofreading, especially the system of proofreading marks, indicate that there is a 'right' way to edit, or better, multiple 'right' ways to edit that all accomplish the same task with the same basic set of tools.
My original thinking on the processes was not so biforcated. I thought that editing and revising were the same process, undertaken by either an outside force or the composer him/herself. To be an editor, with the separation in mind, means to be collaborative, to varying degrees. A proofreader, for example, does not need as much contact with the composer in many genres, whereas a copy editor might need to discuss larger changes with a composer to keep intent intact.
Editing/revising enhance my theory of composing by being a nescessary facet of the composition process. I neglected, in my theory of composition, to mention editing and revision as part of finely crafting a piece of writing -- perhaps that is because so many pieces of writing do not get edited, either because of time or lack of necessity. However, writing that is professional or academic would obviously require both processes to ensure a quality piece of writing, that is clear and concise.
Editing, Editing, Editing. What can I say about editing? First in my opinion, I think that editing can make or break an assignment. As stated in the first article we read editing sometimes can turn a fairly decent first draft into a bad final draft. I feel that when professors sometimes try to turn their thoughts into student thoughts it distracts the writer from trying to get their point across. I think the key principles in editing are being able to perfect another writer’s work. I usually find that some editors simply mark up a piece of writing too much. As a student and even in the professional world there is nothing worse then getting a paper or memo that you have put so much time and effort into returned marked up or as I like to call it bleeding (because of all the many red marks). You see mark after mark, mistake after mistake. Usually seeing all the marks discourages me and makes me want to just say “screw it” I just rewrite the entire paper. In my opinion, that is one of the negatives to editing. Too many edits in one paper can sometimes discourage a writer whereas it’s supposed to be bringing out the best.
ReplyDeleteEditing enhances my theory of composition by inspiring me to write well in the first draft. As I stated earlier I cant stand a marked up paper therefore it allows me to put my all into the initial draft so I wont have a lot to re-write.