Re: Copy Editing and Hammers
Aug. 11th, 2025 07:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynling> What's the point of copy editing if you have no sense of style?
Sorry I'm not done yet.
When it comes to matters of style, a writer will sometimes bend grammatical rules to make their prose more interesting and enjoyable to read. This sort of playfulness is obnoxious if overused, but it can be fun in moderation.
To give an example, I have this one sentence in my story where I'm like: "The room was cluttered with A and B and C and D." The point of breaking grammatical rules in this instance is that the sentence is cluttered like the room is cluttered. Also, the sentence is written in perfect iambic pentameter to convey that the clutter is pleasing in its own way.
Again, it's annoying if every sentence is like this, but you'd think an attentive reader would come across this particular sentence and maybe smile a little. Most readers wouldn't notice the structure of the sentence at all, but perhaps they'd have a clearer sense of how the room looks and feels. The copy editor, on the other hand, saw the sentence and wanted to give me a lecture on grammar.
She also seemed to have trouble understanding that, even though a character might privately think one thing, there are circumstances in which they would say something else to be polite. This is not an inconsistency; it's basic characterization.
Once again, this can be obnoxious if the reader is expected to make connections that only exist in the writer's mind, but sometimes a character is going to need to say something they don't truly believe. Real people do this too. To be polite in social situations.
I guess there are two points to take away from this. First, I should be more specific about what I want from a copy editing job. And second, experiences like this make me somewhat hesitant to spend actual money (ie, hundreds of dollars) to hire an editor for a longer project. Getting clueless and unnecessary feedback is actively harmful in that it makes me second-guess whether what I'm writing is accessible to the lowest common denominator of TikTok girlies who only read YA romance. Nobody needs to write like that.
Sorry I'm not done yet.
When it comes to matters of style, a writer will sometimes bend grammatical rules to make their prose more interesting and enjoyable to read. This sort of playfulness is obnoxious if overused, but it can be fun in moderation.
To give an example, I have this one sentence in my story where I'm like: "The room was cluttered with A and B and C and D." The point of breaking grammatical rules in this instance is that the sentence is cluttered like the room is cluttered. Also, the sentence is written in perfect iambic pentameter to convey that the clutter is pleasing in its own way.
Again, it's annoying if every sentence is like this, but you'd think an attentive reader would come across this particular sentence and maybe smile a little. Most readers wouldn't notice the structure of the sentence at all, but perhaps they'd have a clearer sense of how the room looks and feels. The copy editor, on the other hand, saw the sentence and wanted to give me a lecture on grammar.
She also seemed to have trouble understanding that, even though a character might privately think one thing, there are circumstances in which they would say something else to be polite. This is not an inconsistency; it's basic characterization.
Once again, this can be obnoxious if the reader is expected to make connections that only exist in the writer's mind, but sometimes a character is going to need to say something they don't truly believe. Real people do this too. To be polite in social situations.
I guess there are two points to take away from this. First, I should be more specific about what I want from a copy editing job. And second, experiences like this make me somewhat hesitant to spend actual money (ie, hundreds of dollars) to hire an editor for a longer project. Getting clueless and unnecessary feedback is actively harmful in that it makes me second-guess whether what I'm writing is accessible to the lowest common denominator of TikTok girlies who only read YA romance. Nobody needs to write like that.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-11 01:54 pm (UTC)I just wanted to say that I absolutely ADORE when writers play with prose in a way that evokes the imagery/tone they're aiming for. Reading a good book can feel like a dance - there's a rhythm to it. Sometimes that dance makes you smile and sweeps you up in all the feelings. Sometimes it'll trip you and bring the string quartet to a record scratch-esque halt. All because of how the words are arranged and presented. I might be wildly unfamiliar with copyeditor and the publishing scene, but anyone who doesn't get that (let alone enjoy that) feels like someone not worth listening to.
So sorry you had to deal with this bag of dicks. And thank you for not catering to the tiktok girlies lol
no subject
Date: 2025-08-11 02:09 pm (UTC)I definitely write for my inner TikTok girlie sometimes, but a good editor has to be able to read the room. Tone and style are crucial elements of fiction! If someone is aiming for a contemporary take on a classic gothic style, you have to let them have a few rhetorical flourishes. Otherwise we’d all just be out here posting generic ChatGPT slop.
Speaking of which, yesterday I reblogged a post from you about how a writer has to read all sorts of material in order to be able to write good porn, and honestly. I don’t like needles and would never get a tattoo. But if I did. That post would 100% be my tramp stamp.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-13 11:41 am (UTC)And damn now I want a contemporary take on a classical gothic story. I don't know if I'd trust most authors to pull it off, but the concept alone fucks and I'm here for it.
Oh my god, that post. I remember reading it and nodding along like yup yup this all tracks, then got to the last line about how it's all about writing good porn and the only reason I didn't reblog it within a millisecond was bc I couldn't breathe from laughing so hard. What a whole ass mood. Tramp stamp worthy indeed!! 🤝