A Classic Love-Hate Relationship

by Leigh Perry / Toni L.P. Kelner

I've spent the past couple of days reviewing the copy edits on The Skeleton Makes a Friend, which will be released in November of this year. And, as always, my reactions were somewhat mixed. Among the most common screams from my office were the following:

• AAAAA! I can't believe I missed that.
• AAAAA! No, that is not a mistake. Put it back the way I wrote it!
• Why did they put a comma there? I don't need a comma there.
• Okay, I suppose it's a little more clear to have that comma. If they really want it, I'll let it pass.
• Why did they take that comma out? I need that comma.
• Okay, I suppose it's a little smoother to not have that comma. If they really don't want it, I'll let it pass.
• Oh my gosh, I can't believe I wrote that awful sentence.
• Oh my gosh, I can't believe they meddled with my brilliant sentence.

I think it's safe to say that most writers have a love-hate relationship with their copy editors.

On one hand, it's a huge comfort to know that another set of eyes will be taking a look at my work before it's released onto the public. Honestly it's really difficult to proofread one's own work. I know darned well there are typos in this blog post, and I could read it a dozen times and still see what I meant to write instead of what I actually wrote. Of course, my editor has read over the manuscript, too, but it's the copy editor who is most likely to noticed the missed words, the then that should have been them, the time I said Jen was in the scene when it was actually Judy. (Or did I say Judy, when it was supposed to be Jen? AAAAA!) I've had copy editors so good that they remembered what color a character's hair should be from when it was mentioned in an earlier book in the series. One even recognized that a name I'd inserted as a treat for a friend of mine was the name of a real person, and asked if I realized that. These people know their details!

On the other hand, there are some issues of grammar and punctuation that are open to interpretation, and even creative license. Take commas, for instance. I've never met two authors who sprinkle in commas the same way. Even without arguing over the Oxford comma, there are plenty of places where a comma is optional, and either using one or omitting it would be perfectly correct. My most recent copy editor, though very good for the most part, took out an inordinate number of my commas, and then inserted them elsewhere. I've also had copy editors "correct" my Southern idioms and one I refer to as the Semi-Colon Queen because she never saw a sentence she didn't think she could improve with a firm use of a semi-colon.

Still, I've had far more positive experiences with copy editors than negative ones, and I would never want a book to go to press without having a set of their eagle eyes checking everything out. Just as long as I have the option to veto what they've done with my commas!

 

Comments

[Cath from Australia]

Many years ago I had a boss who used far fewer commas than I do. To get past his editing I used to insert a sacrificial extra comma every couple of pages. He’d delete them with glee and leave the rest of my prose alone.

[Kathy Lynn Emerson]

It’s one of the great contradictions of writing that every time we try to give a character a distinct voice by having him or her use regionalisms or repetition or some other quirk of speech, the copy editor will try to change those sentences into proper English. Fortunately my most recent copy editor just queried “he was some tickled” and “going down to Farmington” and the like in the last ms. and didn’t just arbitrarily rewrite those bits. I’ve given up on commas. Unless it totally changes the meaning of the sentence, I let the c.e. have her way. I did notice, though, in the audiobook of a recent book, that the reader was pausing in all the wrong places!

[Cathy M]

My husband was taught that if you're trying to catch spelling errors, read what you've written from finish to start. It makes you look at each word separately and sometimes helps you catch mistakes beyond spelling. Of course this is only practical for short items but works for me for letters and comments, when I actually take the time to do it!

[Elaine Viets]

I love this blog, Toni. It's so true. I've been edited by the semi-colon Queen, too. She turns my books into term papers. Grrrrr!

[Jane Hotchkiss]

I have so many books that desperately needed copy editing and didn't get it. My reviews note these problems; I demote by at least one star.