Category Archives: editing

Picasso Was a Descriptivist!

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Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

I recently attended the Picasso and the Allure of Language exhibition, at Duke University’s Nasher Museum of Art, which examined the painter’s relationship with another art form: writing. The written word inspired Picasso both as a visual artist and as a poet and playwright. If you’ve seen any of his artwork (click on the image in the link above for examples, including illustrations for books), it’s no surprise Picasso didn’t subscribe to traditional rules of language. As he put it:

“If I begin correcting the mistakes you speak of according to rules with no relation to me, I will lose my individuality to grammar I have not incorporated. I prefer to create myself as I see fit than to bend my words to rules that don’t belong to me.”

This passion for innovation was central to Picasso’s longtime and influential friendship with Gertrude Stein, who played around with the rules of language herself. In her lecture “Poetry and Grammar,” Stein said:

“If writing should go on what had colons and semi-colons to do with it, what had commas to do with it, what had periods to do with it what had small letters and capitals to do with it.”

Copy editors, by default, are prescriptivists, who not only follow but enforce the rules. That’s one reason why I like to edit creative writing. Characters can say “I wish I was” instead of “I wish I were” if it’s true to their voice, and authors can choose to use alternative punctuation or none at all. You don’t do away with rules; you just create your own.

So I guess you could say I’m a descriptivist sympathizer. After all, without Picasso and Stein types, we wouldn’t have cubism or stream of consciousness technique or the interrobang.

But it’s probably best they’re not copy editors.

Thanks to Ivy for pointing out the Picasso quote as blog fodder.

Readers Respond

In the tradition of year-end roundups, I’m using the last post of 2009 to summarize the results of my recent poll asking readers which post topics are your favorites. With sixteen of the forty-nine total votes, “word usage” won out. I wasn’t too surprised, considering the most popular post written this year was about “a while” and “awhile.”

As The Chicago Manual of Style says, “the great mass of linguistic issues that writers and editors wrestle with don’t really concern grammar at all – they concern usage: the collective habits of a language’s native speakers.” (The Big Offenders series focuses on common – and controversial – usage issues, but there are more posts on this topic under the label “word usage.”)

Although “grammar” refers to the structure of language, it’s often used as a catchall to include related subjects, such as usage, punctuation, and spelling; therefore, it makes sense this topic would take second place with eleven votes. Coming in next are the profession-related posts, which appeal to a subset of readers: “style” ranked third with eight votes, and close behind, “copy editing” and “writing” tied for last place with seven votes each.

Thanks to those who voted – I’m looking forward to writing about all of these topics in the New Year!

Product Review: The "Perfect" Editing Software

In this technological day and age, most professions are benefiting from software developments that help people do their jobs. Not so much for editors … Our biggest advancement in recent years has been moving from paper to screen. True, there’s spell check, but its usefulness is debatable (e.g., it won’t catch “there” for “their”). I am, however, a big fan of Microsoft Word’s track changes feature, which I almost always use when editing.

So I was very curious when, in response to my post about how to spell “copy editor,” I received an offer from Intelligent Editing to try PerfectIt, their software designed to find and correct inconsistencies in abbreviations, capitalization, hyphenation, and spelling. It also checks punctuation in lists, bullets, and tables as well as the numbering of tables and figures. Furthermore, you can customize the program for a specific style guide, or the company will do it for you for an additional fee.

PerfectIt works within Word, as a complement to the spelling and grammar check. The software quickly runs a series of tests to bring discrepancies to your attention, and “users make the final decision about suggested changes.” You can review each occurrence of a particular error or correct all the instances at once. It also accepts tracked changes and removes comment boxes! To get a feel for the way the program operates, watch this demo.

The software is easy to use, and I appreciate the focus on consistency, which is my primary concern when editing. (Pick a rule and stick with it!) PerfectIt searches for mistakes spell check doesn’t, such as whether numbers are spelled out or given as numerals. I like that you can adapt the program to a certain style, although, like many editors, I work with several style guides. PerfectIt isn’t as comprehensive as a style guide, just as spell check isn’t as comprehensive as a dictionary, but it’s a good starting point.

Of course, using a software program is not the same as having an actual editor read your work. It can’t look for character development or understand all the intricacies of grammar and language—at least not yet. Their site even says, “proofreading requires a human touch.” So, as with spell check, you can’t rely on PerfectIt alone—you’ll still need to read through your document at least once. It’s more like an assistant.

In these penny-pinching times, not everyone can afford a professional editor, and most people don’t have the time, ability, or desire to edit themselves. PerfectIt provides an alternative, but if you “attempt to edit on your own,” you’ll need a basic understanding of the style guidelines you’re following to decide how you want the program to handle inconsistencies. PerfectIt “works with you as you check through text,” not for you. Fortunately, the company’s Web site gives advice about writing a style guide and setting up PerfectIt accordingly.

For editors, it could make your job a little easier—if it doesn’t put you out of one! You can download PerfectIt and try it free for thirty days here.