After working hard and polishing and spell and grammar checking and fact checking the perfect 500 or 750 or 1000 words for the assigned topic an editor manages to introduce grammatical or factual errors or just plain strange stuff.

Example: I interviewed a prize-winning playwrite who bemoaned the fact that he still hadn't had a play done locally (i.e. prophet without honor in his own country). In the article she managed to add that he had had his plays produced in Philadelphia, California, etc... and locally.

I won't give more specifics because other editors at that publication still hand me off to her occasionally.

Aack! These sound serious. Especially your, Dominique. Don't think I'd want to have dinner at that restaurant that served humus.

So, what's a poor writer to do? I assume it isn't considered common practice or protocol for a writer to mop up after the editor. Does a writer usually have one last chance to see her work before it goes to press?

QUOTE: Originally posted by Blueridge

Aack!...Don't think I'd want to have dinner at that restaurant that served humus.



It gets even better...the name of the place (it was a coffeehouse) was Muddee Waters..Really!

The editor in that case apologized to me for that slipup...blaming the ever-popular spell check.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Blueridge
So, what's a poor writer to do? I assume it isn't considered common practice or protocol for a writer to mop up after the editor. Does a writer usually have one last chance to see her work before it goes to press?


I think it's more often that the writer does not have one last chance to see work before it goes to press at newspapers...but when they asked for someone who wanted to work a few hours each production night to proofread, I jumped at the chance. I actually did it more to learn how the paper was put together and see what else was going on because, as a freelancer, I normally didn't spend a lot of time in the office during the week.

For a couple of articles i did for a business magazine, I did get the chance to see the edited text before the articles went to press. In that case, I was able to change their "tiny" back to my original "tony" (when talking about a rather swish suburb).

Although I'm no copy editor, there is a term used when a word or phrase should not be changed: STET. You could try adding that to your copy for those unusual turns of phrase that might look like a bulls eye to an editor. Unfortunately, there are so many ways to go wrong with the English language that errors are almost certain, especially in newspapers, because there is often so little turnaround time. I recall a cutline under a photo of several dignitaries handing a check to some FFA kids following the annual Junior Livestock Auction at our county fair -- the reporter identified the event as the Livestalk Auction, and the editor (who once wrote about an actor's "roll") didn't know the difference between stalk and stock; the mistake had the newsroom quietly convulsed the next day.

Don't depend on some mythical all-seeing editor -- they are few and far between. When you find one, glean all you can. I have learned a great deal from the woman who does the final edit on my books, but have had to take a walk to calm down when seeing what other editors have done in the first hackfest.

Yeah, if you're going to put "STET" on your work, you'd better have some clout, else the editor not only ignores it, he may well take it as a challenge.

Oops!!!!!!
After 35 years in the newspaper and televison fields, I can still recall my initial impression of my first city editor at the Columbia SC State-Record...
HE WAS GOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it took a century or so to realize the man with the blue pencil and paste pot (pardon me for showing my age) was someone who simply had another person's mistakes built into his blue pencil. As the years rolled by, I moved from the photo lab to the newsroom as police reporter, general assignment reporter and eventually to my happiest days as outdoor editor for a 100,000 daily.
I also began to scan my columns and other material for what I considered errors. I would then slip over to my editors desk and point out the difference between a bass player, a bass boat and a base runner. Done correctly, it usually earned me a thank you, not a rebuke.
When a magazine editor sends me an advance copy of one of my articles, I read it for accuracy, and, if warranted, pick up the phone to spread little oil while asking for a correction.
I've had editors suggest that if I was so good I should apply for his/her job, and found that avenue of revenue gathering was closed. Others either made the changes for which I asked, or advised me of the reason it was too late to make changes. Those often became the editors who didn't hesistate to call me on the phone to question my useage or accuracy if it didn't sound right to them.
BUT--------------
If you don't know your editor, tread easy. If you think you have a better rapport with one, make him/her look better by gently offering a correction before a reader melts his keyboard grousing about an inadvertent error.
As James A has gently (usually) inferred in the past, to be considered a professional, act like a professional. I can't think of much James has offered that can top that on my personal list of regular mental corrections.
You want to be a writer? Start writing!!!!!! It works for me.

Ross