Jessica Neilson

Elang 350, Gardner

Personal Response Paper, Prompt #2
A Concern with Carefulness
Hey, Jessica! Is it smell bad or smell badly? Wait, what about feel bad or feel badly?
Play good, play goodly?
Jessica, youre an editor. Is it further or farther?
Hey, Jessica. Maybe you know about thisAPA in-text citations? Do you know
how to do those?
As an editing minor, Im often asked the above questions. Further frequent
queries also include, Will you edit my resume before I send it in? or Will you look

Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:24 PM

Deleted: often come up

over my assignment before I turn it in? I want to help: show off my glittering
knowledge of writing and usage, astound my friends with eloquence and prose. But
sometimesokay, lets be honest, most of the timeI am just not confident in my
editorial decisions: Um, I think you would use feel good, but let me consult Merriam
Websters or Hmmm . . . I think that farther is supposed to be used for physical
distance, but further is used otherwise . . . I think.
As I have been learning about editing, these inquiries have made me evaluate the
idea of pursuing a career in editing. If I cant help those around me even with their
school papers, who is going to want to hire me professionally? For as Carol Saller says,
If you arent trained and confident in at least the basics of copy editing . . . you cant

Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:27 PM

Formatted: Font:Italic
Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:27 PM
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hope to give the readers what they deserveor gain the respect of your writer (p. 8).
Would I, could I, make a good editor?
My answer is yes, but Im going to need to work at it.

Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:30 PM

Comment [1]: What citation style are you
using? If it is MLA, then you only need the 8.
Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:32 PM
Comment [2]: Consider making this a
separate paragraph, or add it to then next
paragraph.

Saller suggests that a good copy editor should be three things: careful,
transparent, and flexible (p. 23). Transparent? No problem. Im a master at
transparently making others aware of changes Ive made. Flexible? No sweat. Flexibly
allowing others styles to shine forth is a pleasure. I dont mind leaving out Oxford

Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:32 PM

Comment [3]: (23) See comment 1.
Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:34 PM
Comment [4]: This sentence is a little
awkward because of the making and the
made. Consider revision.

commas per the writers (and in-house styles guides) request. But carefulness . . .
Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:35 PM

laboring painstakingly over each letter, punctuation mark, and figure of a manuscript in
an agonizing effort to ensure e-a-c-h (space) c-h-a-r-a-c-t-e-r (space) i-s (space) p-e-r-f-ec-t? Thats the hard one. I particularly abhor checking charts and graphs. Ensuring that
index entries and their corresponding page numbers match is a migraine in the making.
And checking hyphenationoh the hyphenation!makes me hold back a shudder (oh
gods, oh gods, must we endure?).
Carefulness, when did you become my nemesis?
Why did you decide to be an editing minor in the first place, then? Yes, I know
this is what you are wondering. Stop whining and get on with another minor already.
I chose to be an editing minor because of editings redeeming qualities. The bursts of

Deleted:

Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:37 PM

Comment [5]: Consider deleting one of the
parentheticals. Two seems a bit much, and
because dashes are used in the first and
parentheses in the second, the style seems
inconsistent.
Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:39 PM
Comment [6]: When I read through the
paper the second time, I noticed that you
never answered this question. It leaves
readers wanting. Consider answering it or
deleting it.
Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:43 PM
Comment [7]: The second quotation seems
disjointed from the first because of the
sentence in between, and the overall
construction is distracting. Consider revising to
combine the two quotations. For example:
Why did you decide to be an editing minor in
the first place? Stop whining and get on with
another minor already. Yes, I know this is
what you are probably thinking, but I chose to
be . . .
Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:44 PM
Deleted:

Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:44 PM

sunshine of editing usually conquer the forces of darkness (and when I say forces of

Deleted: there are redeeming qualities to

editing

darkness, I mean you, straight quotes). Those bursts of sunshine include fixing

Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:48 PM

Comment [8]: Consider using straight
quotes around forces of darkness.

dangling modifiers, improving subject-verb agreement, and recasting illogical sentences

in general. In essence, the editing that I really enjoy is on a sentence or paragraph level:
amending those things that might dim an authors shine but leaving those things that
keep an authors flair. Overall, I love helping authors reach their potential. To me,
editing is chiseling, burnishing, and polishing a manuscript until it sparkles.
And editing can make a significant difference.
Lets take the example of a friend of mine named Jeremy. He asked me to look
over a cover letter for an internship he was applying for. Jeremy seemed to have a

Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:49 PM

Deleted: things

Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:49 PM

Deleted: It

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pretty good handle on writing: I didnt find any misplaced commas or ungrammatical
clauses. However, Jeremys style seemed to lack a certain grace. Together, we worked
through his cover letter, optimizing his voice so that his experiences leapt off the page.
When we finished, his desire to contribute to the company was clear and precise. Both
Jeremy and I were well-satisfied with the finished product. To be honest, I never heard
whether he got the internship or not, but I know both of us felt he had put his best foot
forward.
That is an editors role, is it not? To shine the light of readership on an author so

Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:51 PM

Deleted: were

Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:51 PM

Deleted: with the cover letter

Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:52 PM

Deleted: that

Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:52 PM

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it hits at the best angle? Indeed, in his book on editing for global English, John R. Kohl
states that applying principles of global English enable[s] writers and editors to take
the clarity and consistency of technical documents to a higher level, leading to faster,
clearer, and more accurate translation (p. 2). I think we can extend this sentence to

Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:53 PM

Comment [9]: See comment 1.

cover an editors purpose: to take the experience of reading any document to a higher
level of clarity and consistency.
So, will I make a good editor? I think that in some ways, I will make an
outstanding editor. I think I would collaborate well with authors. I think I would be
able to make deadlines. I think I would be transparent with the changes Id hope to
make. In order to reach my potential as an editor, however, I mostly need to focus on
being careful. Going through manuscripts with vigilance will help me turn the beam of
remarkable writing to shine on any author I might chance to edit.

Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:55 PM

Deleted: and care

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Works Cited
Kohl, John R. The Global English Style Guide: Writing Clear, Translatable Documentation for
a Global Market. Cary, NC: SAS Institute, 2008. Print.

Saller, Carol. The Subversive Copy Editor: Advice from Chicago (or, How to Negotiate Good
Relationships with Your Writers, Your Colleagues, and Yourself). Chicago: U of Chicago,
2009. Print.

Alyssa Nielsen 3/21/2016 5:57 PM

Comment [10]: Type in the entries so they
are not highlighted in blue, and double check
citation style.