Part 27: Wrapping Up
Editing 09.24.08
Editing 09.24.08
Editing 09.23.08
My job is to guard the facts, to double-check every statement and make sure no mistakes slip through. I started working on this after receiving Bob's edit, feeding the writer and editor a stream of updates and corrections throughout the process.… MORE
Editing 09.23.08
Editing 09.20.08
Editing 09.18.08
This is our first hardcopy stage. Every edit from here on in will be done mostly on paper, with proofs being handed back and forth from copy editors to researchers to editors. The story's main editor, Nancy Miller, is arbiter of which changes get rejected, which get integrated, and which require further study. As you'll see from my notes on the pages, the copy editor does more than check basic spelling and grammar. It's also my job to point out holes in the logic, imprecise turns of phrase, and other weaknesses, both minor and major, as I see them. And overuse of commas. Nancy then goes over these with the writer, if necessary, and gives it all back to me to enter into the electronic file.… MORE
Editing 09.12.08
Posted are two versions of our Kaufman story: My revise with Jason's comments/changes/challenges and then the clean version I put together for Wired's executive editor, Bob Cohn, to read.… MORE
Right now, I see this story as 85% finished. There are still a few TK's (shorthand for "to come") in need of filling but I'm thinking the piece looks pretty good. There are still a lot of steps to go: Bob's version, with his comments and questions (posting tomorrow), copy editing, fact-checking, art's layout, a process we have here called "scrub," but we'll get to that next week. For now, here's Jason's version and my final (for now) take, presented side-by-side for comparison.
Disclaimer: The piece will be fact-checked and copy-edited soon, but for now, this story, like the previous versions, may contain errors.
Editing 09.10.08
Jason posted his rough draft yesterday. Now it's my turn to post my edit. This is what I sent back to him for his first revise. Here are a few things you might find interesting before you jump in:… MORE
As you can see from our previous posts, Jason and I discussed this story quite a bit before he actually interviewed Charlie Kaufman. After he met with Kaufman in LA, Jason seemed confident in the story he wanted to write. Those two factors have resulted in a solid rough draft. The structure works, most of the reporting is there (with a few holes to fill in from his Toronto Film Festival trip) and the writing is lively and smart, especially the ending--those last two graphs--are terrific.
Most of my comments and questions (all in italic) are up top. No big architectural work for me on this piece, just nitpicky, line-by-line stuff and a few suggestions here and there. I recognize with any story, some of my edit suggestions will work, others won't. You'll get to see what worked and what didn't the revise Jason kicks back to me and the subsequent polished version I send along to Wired's executive editor. His revise and that version will appear together in an upcoming post. Stay tuned...
DISCLAIMER: Like the rough draft, this edit has not been fact-checked or copy-edited so may/probably contain factual errors, typos, and other mistakes.