Editing, self-editing and engaging a professional editor
One of my favourite parts of being a science editor is being able to speak to audiences about what I do, and about editing in general.
Tools that editors use
One of the questions I often receive from clients is ‘How can I reduce the cost of editing?’. Another question is usually, ‘Why didn’t I catch that mistake before I sent it to you?’. Editors read through a document a number of times, each time concentrating on a specific set of corrections. We also use a number of tools to aid us in our editing tasks. PerfectIt is one such tool.
Single or double?
I’m old enough to remember using a typewriter. I used one for a few years, but in the early nineties computers became cheaper and more commonplace. I then stopped using the ‘old’ technology of typewriters and started word processing with a computer.
What word for when?
Word lists are tools created by authors and editors to ensure correct spelling and word choice, and consistency of those across one or many documents. The purpose of a word list is to document preferred word spellings so that the author, editor, reviewer and publisher may refer to the list, as they might a dictionary, to ensure the preferred spelling is being used.