Tag: editing


  • Clarifying Text

    The goal of clarifying text is to let the author’s argument be obvious and not have readers trip over textual issues that are easily fixed.

  • Micro Macros: An Editor’s Tiny Helpers

    We professional editors need to become masters of our tools, the most important of which is Microsoft Word. Perhaps the most powerful resource in Word is macros, which are programs you can create using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). You can record your own simple macros or use macros created by others that are available…

  • Copyediting Drug Names

    My first job after college was with a company that developed training for pharmaceutical sales reps, and it taught me a lot about trademarked drug names. In the materials we created, we had to make sure the drug name was handled correctly every time it appeared—that is, with any unique registered marks and trademarks, capitalization, hyphenation, or…

  • Quoting Song Lyrics (A Minefield)

    Dear Authors. Stop. Quoting. Song lyrics. You probably don’t have permission. You definitely can’t afford it. Here’s what to do instead.