How Sweet the Sound: The Worst Singing Voice You Could Ever Imagine…

I woke up at 8 a.m. this morning (hey, sleeping late IS one of the few perks of this freelancer), greeted by — silence. I got up, took my dog, Kosmo, outside — more silence. I fixed a slice of toast and choked it down.

Of course I KNEW it wouldn’t, but I couldn’t restrain that tiny part of me buried deep inside that kept listening for the telephone to ring. You see, it had rung on this date, June 2, for the past I-don’t-know-how-many years, usually operating as my alarm, the wake-up call to my birthday. And on the other end, a raspy, uneven, unimaginably off-tune voice would greet me: “Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to YEWWW! Happy Birthday dear Shelly, Hap-pee Birth-Day … to … You-eww!”

“Hi, Dad,” I would usually mumble, while half-smiling, half rolling my eyes. Sometimes the conversations wouldn’t last more than a few minutes. He’d ask me what I had planned, confirm that I’d received the card that he or Mom had sent (usually with a check in it) … and then always end the call the same way: “I love you.”

The older I got, strangely, the more I looked forward to my birthday morning serenades … and the parting “I love you.” I guess that’s partly because I don’t think my dad told me he loved me until I was well into my 20s … maybe even my 30s. But the older he (well, we) got, the more frequently we both said it.

I said “I love you” to my dad for the last time on April 11, minutes before he took his last breath. I’d been with him, at home in Kansas with Mom, for a week. I thought I’d told him everything I “should” tell him, everything that I “needed” to tell him. Everyone had been reminding me: You don’t want to have any regrets; be sure to tell him how much he means to you.

I did that — absolutely, I did. But how can you remember to say everything? Everything that is in your heart, some of it tucked into little corners so far in the back that you forgot it was there? Forgot, until you wake up the morning of your 48th birthday, and the overwhelming silence of the phone reminds you?

A dear friend told me tonight that he was sure my dad had still serenaded me today — I just couldn’t hear him.

But, I did — the words he sang so many times, in such a pathetically bad key, resounded throughout my soul much of the day. How sweet the sound, Dad. Oh, how sweet your sound.

Me and my dad, March 2010

New Year, Old Mistakes – Part II

A few days after posting Part I of my editing tips, I heard from a writer whom I used to work with. He thanked me for my helpful advice, but wanted to know if I could go a little deeper. Like so many professional journalists these days, time (or lack of it) is one of his biggest enemies when it comes to accuracy, and he asked if I could offer him suggestions on how to prevent skipped words, extra words and other errors.

So, I’m going to repeat a little bit of the advice that I gave him, in hopes that it can help more of the writers who are increasingly having to do the work of two people, if not more.

I want to reiterate that I think one of the best approaches to preventing mistakes is to read  what you’ve written (or even whisper) out loud — which is especially good for finding missing words and repetition. It can also help with misplaced modifiers, another popular mistake. (Particularly common in classifieds. For sale: Beautiful writing desk for ladies with finely carved legs and large drawers.)

I know this next one is difficult to do for a writer, but at some point when you’ve more or less finished your article or Web site or whatever, you’ve got to read through it as if you aren’t the writer, as if you don’t know everything about the story/person/event/topic. Obviously, as the writer, you’ve got SO MANY details running through your head when you’re reading your own work, but if you want to do a good self-edit, you need to just focus on the words — not all the work/research/reporting that are behind the words.

After all, the reader is only going to see the words on the page, or the Web site (she’s not going to know the “back story” — and she’s not going to care).

I’ve been working with this man who hired me to help him improve his writing skills to advance his career. He’s actually quite good already. Whenever I have him write passages, or edit long passages, if I notice several mistakes, I ask him to read out loud. And it’s amazing how I can literally see the lightbulb come on when he vocalizes any writing mistakes he made.

Reading your writing aloud is nothing new — some of the best writers and reporters I know do it religiously. And as hard-pressed  as you often are for time, it’s something you have to make time for — especially if your writing has a lot of errors in it.

Post under fire for rise in errors

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/15/AR2010011502419.html

In the above article, The Washington Post’s ombudsman, Andrew Alexander, attempts to defend/explain why there has been a recent uptick in errors in the newspaper. In the latter part of 2009, Alexander writes, an increasing number of readers wrote in to complain about the sloppy mistakes.

There are some comments I agree with in Alexander’s article, but perhaps more that have me a bit riled – starting with the headline (and I would lay odds that a copy editor didn’t write it!): “Why you’re seeing more copy-editing errors in The Post.”

The implication in that headline (and the meaning that most readers will likely take from reading it) is that the copy editors are MAKING the errors. OK, OK, I know some of you will insist that errors of omission are just as serious as errors of commission. And while, for the most part, I would agree with you, for purposes of responding to Alexander’s article, I’m going to play devil’s advocate. But first, I do have to say that, absolutely, whether I’m copy editing for a newspaper, magazine, book publisher, a business, or an individual, if a mistake, any mistake, gets into print, I accept responsibility for it. It doesn’t matter whether I caught 999 errors and poorly worded phrases, if I let even one get past me, it bothers me — a lot.

But Alexander’s article attempts to explain to readers why they’re seeing increasingly shoddy writing. And to imply, in the headline, that it is due to copy editors MAKING the errors (as opposed to reporters, which is actually the case), it chaps my you-know-what just a wee bit. Alexander explains that “reduced staffing” has played “some role” in the spike in errors. Then he goes on to detail how, newsroomwide, in the past decade, staffing has dropped 28 percent as of today.  But then he cites a drop in copy editor staffing (and only through mid-2008) of 43 percent!! And with more copy editors departing in 2009, that 43 percent figure is actually higher as of today. Alexander goes on to describe how, in addition to losing about half of their team, copy editors at The Post are now responsible for many additional tasks, stemming from work on the Web site.

So, no, Mr. Alexander, the increase in published mistakes, and  the rise in complaints by testy readers, should not be attributed to “more copy-editing errors.” Instead, the accurate explanation is either MORE errors by the reporters (who, I’ll wager, are also having to do more work) or the same volume of errors they’ve always made … but instead of The Post now fielding a full team of copy editors to prevent those mistakes from getting through, it’s sending out a team minus a shortstop, center fielder, first baseman and catcher. What kind of chance does a defense like that have?

Alexander somewhat redeems himself with his final comment: “In the end, nothing can replace the experienced, fastidious copy editor. And nothing can help them more than reporters getting it right in the first place.”  It just would have made for a more accurate article if Alexander had gotten it right in the first place, instead of the article’s last line.

Which segues perfectly with a comment a friend made to me this week, in an e-mail. This friend, whose identity I will protect for her safety, is the most amazing journalist I know. She played a large role in my decision to become a journalist, and she has about 25 years in the biz. She’s extremely well-respected in the industry and has held a lot of positions for major news organizations. So, to her comment:

“Newspapers that do that (get rid of most of their copy editors) are going to regret it so soon. The dirty secret of all newspapers is that reporters often can’t write to save their lives, and copy editors keep the paper from looking ridiculous and illiterate.”

I post this here not to piss off all my reporter friends — many are excellent writers as well as being amazing reporters. And, to imply that the comment applies to the majority of reporters would be unfair and, untrue. But the plain truth is, some are not good writers (and a smaller portion are quite bad). However, readers have never been aware of this because line editors and copy editors pretty everything up. But it’s reaching a point where there’s almost no one left to give the raw writing the needed makeover.

New Year, Old Mistakes – Part I

It’s taken me longer than I anticipated to get back here. I’ve been busy in my role as editor for Uptown Magazine. …
And writing up a contract for freelance writers. It will, of course, be reviewed now by a lawyer. Speaking of lawyers, I also just finished editing a book for an Atlanta attorney — more details to come when it’s published (but let me just say: It’s an extremely useful, well-written book that can help a lot of people).
Anyway, I promised in my last post to offer some self-editing tips that anyone can use.
One way to approach self-editing, or advice on self-editing, is for me to point out some of the most common errors seen in writing…and how you can avoid making them.
Its vs. it’s: This is easily in the Top 3 mistakes that writers make. Rarely is “its” used when the writer means “it’s.” Rather, there’s an epidemic of “it’s” in text. As you’re writing, or when you’re re-reading and self-editing (No, don’t even TRY to defend why you don’t self-edit/proofread your own writing…), and you see that you’ve written “it’s,” STOP — then read the sentence aloud but replace the “it’s” with “it is.” If you find that you’ve written: ITS natural for a male dog to raise IT IS (it’s) leg before it pees — WRONG. CORRECT: It’s (IT IS) natural for a male dog to raise its leg before it pees. Remember, “its” is the possessive, “it’s” is the contraction.

Their vs. there vs. they’re: CORRECT: They’re happy campers because their trip to Paris is back on, and they will be there for two weeks.  Remember: “Their” is the possessive (like “its”) — so a noun should follow it; a possessive has to have a “thing” to possess. “There” has a variety of meanings, but is generally an adverb; it means in, at or to a particular place (that has usually been mentioned previously). E.g. In the example sentence, “there” means “in Paris.” “They’re” is the contraction form of “they are” (like it’s) — as pointed out above, when you write “they’re,” replace mentally with “they are” and see if sentence still makes sense.

All right: No, it is not all right to spell it as “alright.” All right, which means acceptable (adj.) or fairly well (adv.), should always be spelled as two words. While you may see it spelled “alright” fairly often, that is incorrect. All right?

Of vs. have: WRONG: I should of told you, but I was scared.  CORRECT: I should have told you, but I was scared.  Remember the old saying, “Woulda, coulda, shoulda,” used to voice regret? Well, if you ever write “would of,” “could of” or “should of,” then you better feel regret — the proper form is “would have,” “could have” and “should have.”

Mistaken word usage:

assure, ensure, insure: Assure means to promise, ensure means to make certain, or guarantee, that something will occur or be true; insure is to provide insurance. You assure people of something (I can assure you that I know what I’m talking about); you ensure that something will happen (Editors help ensure that articles are accurate); you must insure property (The agent told me that I needed to insure the painting).

OK, more to come in my next post. In general, when reviewing your own writing, avoid “thinking ahead of the words,” or “seeing what isn’t there.” What I mean by that is, try not to let your mind assume what is on the page/screen. It’s natural to assume that what you “wanted” to write/say is actually what you wrote … but that is often not the case. Another good tip that good reporters often use is reading their writing aloud. If you’re forced to speak it, your ears can often hear what your eyes can’t see.

If You’re Going to Give Advice…Edit Twice

I was on Twitter the other day and saw a tweet from a fellow editor, linking to her blog. The entry was something like “10 Tools an Editor Can’t Live Without,” so I decided to check it out. I’m not going to provide the link here because I don’t want to embarrass the woman.

The blog looked great, visually. I must admit I was envious. But then I began reading. And in her very first “tool,” she advised all editors to have a copy of “Stunk and White’s.” I’m probably stating the obvious to all the other editor/writer folks who are reading this, but for the others: The book she was referring to is “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White, one of the top reference books for editors.

I cringed but kept on reading. And as I did so I continued to cringe. Every couple of graphs or so there was a glaring error — the type that professional editors are taught to catch in their first editing, or writing/reporting, class. Incorrect possessives. Subject-verb agreement. Misspelled words.

Let’s face it. We come upon these types of mistakes and bad writing practically every time we read something online. But, shouldn’t an editor’s blog be held to a higher standard? Shouldn’t an editor hold herself to a higher standard? This particular editor was using her blog as her Web site, and was marketing her services on it, as well. But I think the thing that troubled me the most was that this particular blog entry was clearly giving advice to other editors, and yet it was littered with bad mistakes.

As an editorial consultant, one of the challenges I sometimes face is getting people to understand why it is important (monetarily and reputation-wise) for them to make a good impression with their written words. So to see another editor who doesn’t even seem to understand that is puzzling.

We all make mistakes, we all make typos. And yes, I’m not immune. (And if/when I make mistakes, I would love for any other eagle-eyed editors to point them out to me!) But there’s a clear difference between a simple typo and numerous grammatical mistakes that seem to indicate that you don’t even edit your own writing.

I’ve recently begun editing/rewriting blogs for some professionals who clearly understand how important making a good impression is. With the millions of blogs online today, why should I, or you, take advice from or hire someone who can’t put his thoughts across in a comprehensible and accurate manner?

Next time, I’ll offer some basic self-editing tips that you can incorporate in your blogs or on your Web sites.

More Goodbyes…

First, a brief note about my blog’s header. No, this isn’t a travel blog…although I may wander there occasionally. But traveling, as well as words, is one of my passions. So I’ll be changing out travel pics there from time to time. This one is taken during a too brief stay at Lochmara Lodge, on the Marlborough Sound, on the South Island of New Zealand. I was finishing up a 50-plus mile hike along the sound, and it was pure heaven. Trust me: If there is ONE place that’s a must visit in New Zealand (OK, there are dozens of must-visits in NZ…), this is it. Check out its site for more details: http://www.lochmaralodge.co.nz/

My former newspaper, The Charlotte Observer, went through another round of layoffs this past week — eight folks in the newsroom took voluntary buyouts. Not sure how many others throughout the rest of the company.

There have been so many now, not only in Charlotte but throughout the country, that it’s almost become routine. But for each individual affected, it’s far from routine. For each person who chooses to walk through those newsroom doors for the last time, it’s the end to a chapter in their lives that for most of them began when they were 22, and often much earlier than that. And because of the continuing decline in the newspaper industry, it’s not likely a chapter that will be reopened.

It was a little different for me, when I chose to take my voluntary buyout from the Observer in May 2008. It was the very first round of buyouts, and that time, they were all voluntary. While I certainly couldn’t predict how many, or when, I knew with certainty that more would be coming. At that stage, there were still many people in the newsroom who, for whatever reason, were in denial — denial about conditions worsening, denial about their jobs ever being in jeopardy, denial about the stability of McClatchy (which closed at $3.02 on Friday…but definitely a leap up from the 52-week low of .35). At that point, I wasn’t concerned about any imminent layoff, as I had a fair amount of seniority. There were many reasons that contributed to my decision to leave when I did, some of which I won’t go into, but one significant one was that I knew I could NOT bear to be one of the ones left behind, watching the exodus of my friends and respected co-workers.

That may strike some people as strange — considering as how I ended up leaving and saying goodbye to everyone, all at once. Think of it like the pulling off of an emotional bandaid – excruciating, but quick … not drawn out, over a period of agonizing years.

An e-mail I received from a dear friend, a man, who still works at the newsroom the other night put a poignant voice to all of this. A co-worker and friend of ours was one of the eight leaving. I’m going to share part of the e-mail:

I walked him down to get ice one last time as he was leaving, and he stopped halfway, turned around and said he wanted to go before he cried. I finished that for him.

The life that is gone from here is excruciating.

If you knew these two men, and just the thought of either of them crying or even being on the verge — it brought a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes imagining it (and is doing so again as I type this).

Another reason my departure differed from those of so many others is that journalism isn’t the only career I’ve known. While it is absolutely my professional passion and the career that I was “meant to have” (let’s face it – when you know it, you just know it), it is my second career. When I first graduated college I was in accounting and finance. I went to work for Deloitte, Haskins & Sells as an auditor, and later worked for Electronic Data Systems as a financial analyst.

I’ll save for a later post how I went from becoming a number cruncher to a wordsmith…