COMM 291: edits, first batch, for Sleepy Weasel

Emailed to magazine editing students Sunday, February 28, 2010 9:23 PM

Hi everybody --

Just got back from Peoria a couple of hours ago, and I've been doing rough edits on the first batch of Sleepy Weasel material. Four of them are ready to go, and I need you to edit them and get 'em back to me ASAPest. They represent about half of what I've got in so far. So we do need to get copy from the masscomm students! Attached are:

-- Virginia Boehl - Angels
-- Nathan Peter - Cemetery
-- Amalia Ramirez - Clarity
-- Natasha Keenan - Garth Brooks

I think it'll work best if you create a new folder in "My Documents" and keep them there. I'm labeling my folder "weasel 2010," and it might help us communicate better if you use the same label. As you finish your edits, email them back to me as Microsoft Word attachments.

For the time being, let's do the edits using the "tracking" or "redlining" functions in Microsoft Word. It's the convention of using a strikethrough to show deletes and underlining to show inserts or additions (see "Subversive Copy Editor," pp. 16-17 for a better explanation). I'm going to be sending the same stories to all three of you and asking you to get your edits back to me, so I need to be able to track your changes as we put together a final draft. It'll help you see your own edits, too.

I can't show you an example in plain text email, but I'll post one when I copy this message to the blog.

Any questions? If so, let me know.

-- Doc

Example of tracked edits

Strike through copy that you want to take out. Like this: I just decided not to say this.

Underline copy that you want to put in. Like This: I want to say it this way instead.

Put 'em together, and it looks like this: I just decided not to say this. I want to say it this way instead.

If you're ever around the state Legislature, which I heartily recommend, you'll see a lot of this. It's exactly the same system they use to show amendments to bills.