Erin McKean, on editing David Foster Wallace’s “word notes” for the aforelinked Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus:
For some writers, reading the copy-edits is like going to the
dentist. You know you have to, and you’ll be happy, long-term,
that you did, but the actual process involves a certain amount
of drooling discomfort and incoherent mumbling. Other writers
think of copy-editing as massage: someone works you over, and
then you stumble out feeling good — kind of dazed, and a bit
greasy, but good.
David Foster Wallace’s reaction to the copyedit was more like
someone invited him to an all-day grammar seminar (with celebrity
photo signings and vendor’s expo hall), combined with a debating
society picnic, where the topic was “RESOLVED: This Comma Should
Be Removed.”
DIGITAL JUICE
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank's!