Best editing advice I've seen in a long time...

[f4f3]

Just followed a link from one of my friends on Twitter to this article in the Times Higher Education supplement by Tara Barbazon (a name made for musical comedy). It's mostly about the art of note taking, but it contains an absolutely brilliant section on editing an assignment, which I think holds true for almost any piece of writing you intend for publication:

How to edit an assignment

Draft one: Correct all spelling and grammatical issues

Draft two: Check that references are complete

Draft three: Verify that quotations are accurate

Draft four: Read the introduction. Does it map the trajectory of the paper?

Draft five: Read the conclusion. Is there an efficient and evocative ending to the assignment?

Draft six: Check the first sentence of each paragraph. Does it convey the content of the paragraph that follows it?

Draft seven: Check the last sentence of each paragraph. Does it create a transition to the next paragraph?

Draft eight: Read each word and sentence for meaning and clarity. Is each word required? When in doubt, chop it out

Draft nine: Ensure there is no fragmentation between sections of the argument

Draft ten: Have you answered the question? Return to the marking criteria. Are you addressing all the required elements in the assignment? What mark would you give the paper?

Comments

[amelia-eve.livejournal.com]

This is absolutely spot on. It also highlights one of my preferences as a professional editor: Don't try to look for everything in a single read. I'll skim through a manuscript several times, checking different elements each time. You can't verify all the numbering and cross-references at the same time you are organizing the bibliography and checking for commercial trademarks in the copy. Each of those should be an individual pass, along with the actual sense read. Extra bonus if I can get the entire MS on hand and do each of those passes once for the whole thing, rather than slogging through chapter by chapter. And don't be afraid to use tick marks to verify your own work.

[rosathome.livejournal.com]

I think I'd want to make sure I'd answered the question a lot earlier in the process, to be honest.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

This is fascinating - I'd start with the presumption that I'd answered the question (why write the answer, otherwise?) and come back for a fresh look when I was sure of my structure.

[anthrokeight.livejournal.com]

What? No! If you haven't completed the assignment, flawless grammar and punctuation will not save you from failing miserably.

(Insert off topic reference to non-native speaker's of English getting shafted for ESL errors they're probably not even cognitavely capable of seeing yet...)

Kate's hierarchy of grading, as stated in her rubrics:

A successful assignment will:

ORGANIZATION--
--Be complete and accurately answer the prompt.
--Have a clear introduction with a thesis statement that tells the reader what you will do, and how you will do it.
--Be organized in such a way that the ideas are presented to their best advantage and for ease of reading.
--Have paragraphs that support the thesis, with topic sentences and transitions that orient the reader to your point.
-- Provide a useful conclusion.

CONTENT--
--Use appropriate evidence from a variety of sources.
--Provide complete and thorough citations.
--Use evidence accurately (including correct quotations and paraphrase).
--Use detailed examples to illustrate the points you want to make.

FORMATTING/PROOFING--
--Be 12 point standard font, double spaced, with one-inch margins. Be stapled.
--Be free of distracting mechanical errors.

I can work around mis-used commas and apostrophes. But I can't do much when a kid turns in a hot buttered mess with no clear direction and no evidence.

Although evidence and use thereof are the heart of a paper, I tend to ask younger writers to focus on organization. If the pieces of the puzzle are missing-say you have no examples- this is something you can point out when you get to the "paragraph with example here" part of drafting. Form helps shape function in this sort of case.

Also, there is nothing. And I mean NOTHING more fraught-making than spending an hour proofing a paper, only to have your writing tutor say to you after some minutes of reading "... so. The assignment says you're supposed to have a thesis. Where's the thesis in this paper?"

[anthrokeight.livejournal.com]

Okay... so on reflection:

I think this suggested drafting process assumes a much, much, much higher level of writing competence than found in the average first year in college (US or UK from my experience) student's paper. If you're a pro, and you know it's logical, then start with proofing.

But I'm hesitant to say that much, since I know people with PhDs whose first and second rounds of drafting are usually aimed at making toasted piles of incoherance into something that reads like a paper.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

I remember the first (and not the last) time I was roasted for not answering the question the tutor thought he was setting.
You know something? The question was crap.

[anthrokeight.livejournal.com]

Well! I agree... students write better papers when they have REALLY CLEAR assignments with CLEAR GOALS and EXPECTATIONS.

Many papers try and get students to work on mastering skill and content. Often, they're trying to keep a lot of balls in the air. Treating How to Write a Critical Summary as a skill that requires a special hat and a secret handshake only makes a hard process harder.

So, I believe your tutor asked a stupid question. It happens a lot, because people assume young writers know how to do things (paraphrase, even) with which they have little or no comfort.

The first assignment my freshman writers do is paraphrasing. They have to:

Identify the thesis and three sections that support it. Provide a direct quote of the relevant parts of the text, and then provide a paraphrase that re-presents the idea in their own words.

Skill: paraphrase and quote.
Content: Identify thesis on medical care of the poor, identify major supporting evidence/arguments.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

This is also fascinating - it shows up all sorts of assumptions I make about writing - that it will be from someone who has English as a first language, that it will be grammatically sound and punctuated properly, but mostly that who ever is writing will have READ THE BLOODY QUESTION!

Naivety over experience, I guess :)

[anthrokeight.livejournal.com]

It is actually quite shocking to see how professors will slam non-native speakers for grammar errors, and let some appalling shit slide in their native speakers' work. I don't think they even see it, because they're so enculturated to accepting common grammar errors in English.

ESL writers have really obvious, but often very minor, errors. Article and preposition use are two that stick out, but often make little difference in meaning.

Interestingly, there is research that shows that learning articles and prepositions is the last step in acquiring fluency in English. People just do not have the neurological pathway developed in their brains to be able to generate them as fluent speakers until they've gone through the process of learning ALL the other rules of grammar.

So, an ESL writer's fundamental ability to write in English is often judged by native speakers using the most difficult skills to achieve as the baseline criteria. They don't even know it's IN the university, not ON it! Aiieee. I think this is interesting, since in English and American English, prepositions are sometimes used differently for words.