As a consummate writer and linguist with a passion for oral and penned communications, I find the beauty and excellence of writing are fast becoming a fading art practised in today’s world. We’ve learnt to take shortcuts in how we spell words. For example, “and” is abbreviated to a symbol as well as “are” and “you” become the letters “r” and “u”. That’s perfectly okay when we’re texting family and friends on social media. Except for correct usage of the ampersand (&), it’s unbefitting for composing business communiqués and publications.
It has become apparent that we are not consistently using the spell check application on computerised devices. We appear slapdash in editing our written scripts for grammar, spelling, punctuation or wording. This occurs across various platforms (e.g. advertisements, blogs, books, bulletins, letters, magazines, newspapers, press releases, websites). A keen editorial eye notes these recurring mistakes and their frequency, but most of us seem not to notice them.
One useful technique, that I learnt whilst enrolled in a creative writing course at the Anguilla Community College, is to read whatever we write out loud to ourselves. The Lecturer emphasised the importance of reading words aloud. By speaking written words in our own voices, we hear with our ears what doesn’t sound right and needs improving.
Using a sounding method is worthwhile because our eyes can play tricks when we’re reading silently. Oftentimes, we see what is not there and miss what’s awry. Hearing words spoken audibly allows us to listen to their flow. We then have an opportunity to move sentences and paragraphs, so there is more eloquence and fluidity. Writing with a computer allows greater artistic expression in terms of colours, fonts, images, layout and words, which can easily be copied, deleted, inserted, pasted, re-sized.
In the bygone days of typewriters, which were the precursors to computers, we had to use a liquid correction pen or tape to white out our mistakes. Sometimes the entire article or paper had to be re-typed. The 21st century technology facilitates the ease of editing. A desk or laptop PC, tablet and mobile phone have built in software apps to automatically correct misspellings, suggest word phrasing and correct grammar, but it’s not infallible. We must still put forth an effort to write with excellence.
When composing articles for The Anguillian, I save compositions in Word and PDF files. It’s easier to read a PDF-formatted document when editing, spot corrections and make changes in a Word doc, which is thenceforth submitted to the newspaper. Occasionally, I miss something that needed correcting.
Not only am I skilled in writing, but also in editing a variety of documents – e.g. business plans, company brochures, manuscripts, marketing presentations, proposals, etc. My eyes usually catch all the errors that other persons don’t take note of. Nevertheless, I’m not flawless and once in a while miss a correction that someone else notices.
As an expert in writing and editing, I emphasise that the art of editing requires we understand the writer’s intention. We often interpret what is written from our mind’s perspective. Changing words and punctuation from the original text can actually change the essence of the author’s words.
When someone else edits our words, they might change the intent of what we originally wrote by using a different word or inserting a punctuation mark that we didn’t include. It can be disconcerting. But, remember to not be upset with another person’s preferred writing style and recognise the changes made were her/his choice.
There are occasions in which editorial disharmony is created. For example, when working with a client who approves necessary changes and a publisher, to whom the edits were submitted, doesn’t make all of the indicated corrections. Going back and forth to get typos and errors corrected duplicates the editor’s assigned tasks.
Another challenge is to edit a PDF formatted document. Whoever edits it has to compile a Word doc outlining all of the changes. This method of working takes extra energy and it also increases the fees charged for services by an editorial professional to input rewrites into a separate document.
I’ve written all of these words simply to emphasise that we must take writing and editing more seriously. It is incredibly important that we proofread and copyedit everything before it goes to print or is sent off.
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Kay M Ferguson is a contributing columnist who uses a nom de plume, The Empress Extraordinaire. Her words encourage us to explore who we are, evolve as human-beings and transform our world. Link with Kay at anguillawriter@gmail.com.
