Make Copy Shine By Editing 2023

MAKE COPY SHINE BY EDITING

The long-awaited day has finally arrived. The yearbook is being delivered and every staffer anxiously waits to tear into those boxes and break the binding on their precious publication. All the sleepless nights, last-minute photo-ops and computer blindness have all been for this moment — seeing the satisfied look on the faces of your peers. You hand out your pride and joy to a student and watch them walk away smiling, but then they stop… turn… and head back to you.

You know what comes next. “You spelled my name wrong.” “Do you know you spelled varsity wrong?” “That’s not what grade I’m in.”

Maybe the perfect publication is a pipe dream. There is just too much to do in such a short time to make sure everything has been copy edited and fact-checked. However, no matter the excuses we make, this fact remains: errors diminish credibility and journalistic integrity. How can we be trusted to tell a student’s emotional tale or accurately document the history of a school year if we can’t spell the word “success” correctly? You can’t learn to edit copy overnight. It is an art that is learned and acquired over time with practice. To get started, we need to look at the foundation for building an insightful eye for copy editing by examining the following areas:

ASSESSING THE STORY LEADS AND LANGUAGE EDITORIALIZING 16

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COPY EDITING MARKS 24 QUOTES AND TRANSITIONS 20 THE EDITING PROCESS 36 AP STYLE RULES 28

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Yearbook Suite | Make Copy Shine By Editing