Most of the time, my editor and I use the Track Changes,
a feature in Microsoft Word, to communicate. She asks questions or suggests
changes. I either accept her changes or I explain why his/her suggestion might
not be the best way to go. Then I suggest alternate changes that address his/her
concerns.
National Geographic has generously allowed me to share a
few examples from Deadliest Animals.
In this first example (click to enlarge), the
editor wanted to make everything in the first paragraph singular rather than
plural. In the second paragraph, she suggested deleting a sentence to improve
flow. She was worried that removing the sentence might leave too little text on
the page, but the art/production director said it wouldn't be a problem.
In this second example (click to enlarge), the editor thought we needed to add a bit more information to clarify the point. She suggested a possible alternate wording, but I decided to try something a little bit different.
In this example (click to enlarge), the editor made a very good point. Many of the books in the series are sold to other English-speaking nations. They are also translated into other languages. She pointed out that the expression I had chosen was fun, it wouldn't work well for audiences outside the U.S.
Here is the text for last spread of the book (click to enlarge). The editor thought we needed a build up to the final fascinating fact—that mosquitoes are the deadliest animals on Earth. So I added a new paragraph. But I was worried that there was now way too much text for the spread, so I suggested cutting some text from the third paragraph.
The art/production director was also worried that there was too much text on the spread. She thought we might want to cut the last paragraph, even though she liked it. The editor responded that she wanted to keep it. At this point, we all thought there was too much text, but decided to resolve the problem during the layout stage. Then we’d see how the layout was working and could figure out exactly how much needed to be cut.
To see how the book progressed from this point, come back next week.
In this second example (click to enlarge), the editor thought we needed to add a bit more information to clarify the point. She suggested a possible alternate wording, but I decided to try something a little bit different.
In this example (click to enlarge), the editor made a very good point. Many of the books in the series are sold to other English-speaking nations. They are also translated into other languages. She pointed out that the expression I had chosen was fun, it wouldn't work well for audiences outside the U.S.
Here is the text for last spread of the book (click to enlarge). The editor thought we needed a build up to the final fascinating fact—that mosquitoes are the deadliest animals on Earth. So I added a new paragraph. But I was worried that there was now way too much text for the spread, so I suggested cutting some text from the third paragraph.
The art/production director was also worried that there was too much text on the spread. She thought we might want to cut the last paragraph, even though she liked it. The editor responded that she wanted to keep it. At this point, we all thought there was too much text, but decided to resolve the problem during the layout stage. Then we’d see how the layout was working and could figure out exactly how much needed to be cut.
To see how the book progressed from this point, come back next week.
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