Editing for Publications
Posted on 08/04/2009 08:39 am by adminPublishing is a highly competitive business. An author is only one of thousands submitting a manuscript to a magazine or a publisher in the hope that it will be accepted. Getting your manuscript checked before submitting it could give it a better chance of being considered.
Naturally a manuscript written by an author whose mother tongue is not English should be edited. However, even one written by an English person benefits by being checked. In this case an editor will look for grammatical and punctuation errors; unclear expressions; inconsistencies in many different forms; unnecessary repetitions; rambling, waffling, superfluous details, and, most of all, organisation.
In all cases the editor needs to be sensitive to the author’s natural writing style and refrain from imposing his/her preferences onto the text in hand. The editor must also recognise that different writing styles are appropriate for different texts such as a travel article, a feature for a new age magazine or a romantic novel — and edit accordingly.
The following text is an extract from the introduction to Yujie Zhao’s book: Chuang Hua – the Chinese Art of Paper-Cutting. Ms Zhao has an excellent command of English and is a good story-teller. The
text flows well but the style is a bit too informal for this kind of publication and there are some grammatical errors and awkward expressions which needed some detailed editing.
Original text:
Chuang hua (window flower)–paper cutting in Yu county, China
As we know, paper cutting is a kind of folk art in China. So it is closely connected with the daily life of ordinary people. As we hear the word paper cutting, most people might think it is cut by scissors. Yes, of course, at the begining, people use their sicssors to cut different patterns for fun or leisure activities. But once it was widely used in people’s daily life, everyting would change, and as the time passed by, it turned out to be a folk art with fabulous and fantastic crafts.
The development of the paper cutting in my home town–Yu county (not far away from Beijing, a small county in Hebei province) tells us the Truth. Hundred years ago, in some northern places of China, people post a kind of specially made white paper on their window for keeping warm and preventing the wind. Obviously, this white paper looks pale and dull. Some people began to cut coloured papers into different patterns by scissors and posted them on those white windows, but the single colour pattern was still not beautiful enough to make their life more colourful. So they began to use knives to carve the patterns that they like, most of the these early patterns were from embroidery samples. They carved those lovely patterns with rice paper and then dyed them in different colours. At that time, paper cuttings looked so beautiful and vivid and this kind of crafts comes down and up to now people in Yu county still benifit from this exquisite folk art.
For this historical reason, paper cutting in Yu county is called Chuang Hua (window flower). Chuan Hua art is very common in Yu county and all the processes can be done in a family. Before the Spring festival, you can see that grandma smoking the pattern, father carving, mother dyeing and the little girl posting their Chuang Hua on the window.
Edited text:
Chuang Hua (window flowers) — Paper-Cutting in Yu County, China
In China paper-cutting is a kind of folk art so it is closely connected with the daily life of ordinary people. When the words ‘paper cutting’ are heard, most people would think that scissors are used. In the beginning people used their ordinary scissors to cut different patterns in paper for fun or as a leisure activity. But once it became widely used in peoples’ daily lives, things started to change and, as time went on, the activity turned into an exquisite art form with specially made scissors and knives now used to make the intricate designs.
The development of paper-cutting in my home town in Yu County, Hebei (not far from Beijing) is a good example of how the craft developed over time and has been passed down through generations to the present day. Hundreds of years ago, in some northern places in China, people placed specially-made white paper on their windows to keep warm and for protection against the wind. But because this white paper looked pale and dull some people began to cut coloured paper into different patterns with scissors and stick them onto the white paper. Still, however, the single coloured pattern was not beautiful enough to make things more colourful so they began to use knives to carve more intricate patterns, most of which were initially from embroidery samples. Rice paper, dyed in different colours, was used to make these designs. To this day people in Yu county still practice and enjoy this beautiful and vibrant folk art.
For obvious reasons, paper-cutting in Yu County is called Chuang Hua — window flowers. Chuang Hua art is very common in Yu County and all the processes can be done in a family. Before the Spring Festival, you can see grandma smoking the pattern, father carving, mother dyeing and little girl posting the Chuang Hua onto the window.
An Article for a Newsletter
The following text is an extract from an article written for an informal friendly newsletter. The writer has a delightfully original and humorous style and the text has been edited very lightly. Only a few grammatical mistakes have been corrected so that the writer’s style and humour is preserved. This is acceptable for this kind of publication.
Original text:
One way to Celebrate
Existence pushed me out of my beloved relationship, pushed me to go on, out of the cosy comfort of hugs, talks and cudeling. What a pain, what a shock and at the same time the deep knowing inside of me, that’s good what’s happening. From one day to the other the whole world stood open, without children or other responsibility I was free to go wherever I want.
I researched for a country not to hot, a place in the countryside, where I could work and live with other people, who are interested in inner growing. Also I thought that it could be an Osho place.
Internet provides Croydon Hall. I’m living and working here as a member of the community since 2,5 month.
Around 130 guests we were happy to welcome at Croydon hall. The summer was a little bit missing with all that rain but the celebration part works good.
Edited text:
A Way to Celebrate
Existence pushed me out of my beloved relationship, pushed me to get out of the cosy comfort of hugs, talks and cuddling. What pain, what shock — and at the same time a deep knowing inside of me that what was happening was good. From one day to the next the whole world opened up. Without children or other responsibilities I was free to go wherever I wanted to go.
I researched for a country that was not too hot and for a place in the countryside where I could work and live with other people who were interested in their inner growth. I also thought that it could be an Osho place.
The internet provided Croydon Hall! So I have been living and working here as a member of the community for the last 2 ½ months.
We were happy to welcome around 130 guests at Croydon Hall for the Summer Festival last weekend. The summer was a little bit missing with all the rain but the celebration part worked great!