I encountered many new ideas that supported my work on course assignments as I read through the instructional materials for modules 3 and 4.
Editorial Comments and Author Queries
I was delighted to encounter material that directly addresses the editor-author relationship. I am still learning about editor-author communications, so I found the advice on being polite and persuasive in editorial comments and author queries to be very helpful.
The ideas from Dr. Kim’s module 3 video lecture and Deming’s 2010 article: “Between Author and Editor Queries: Conversing with the Author in Writing” supported my work on the structural edit assignment by giving me ideas on how to include justifications and goodwill buffers in my suggestions.
By including goodwill buffers and explanations, my suggestions become more polite and persuasive. Accurate editorial suggestions are useless if they offend the author, and they aren’t implemented.
Developing a strong editor-author relationship is vital for my career objectives, as it applies to both writing and editing. Editing is an essential step in producing quality deliverables, and positive editor-author relationships make it much easier for both sides. Editor-author relationships offer valuable chances to connect with colleagues on a deeper professional level.
Editing for Subject-Verb Agreement
It pleasantly surprised me to see how easy it is to ensure subject-verb agreement, despite the prevalence of mistakes in this area. Since I often see subject-verb agreement mistakes, I expected the rules for it to be complicated.
I was delighted to read that there are only eight exceptions to the general rules for subject-verb agreement. I expect this information to be very useful when I complete the copyediting test for this course. I previously lacked confidence in my ability to correct subject-verb agreement because the topic intimidated me. Reading the rules for making sure that subjects and verbs agree significantly increased my confidence to copyedit for this type of error.
Gender Neutral Pronouns
Revising Professional Writing‘s advice on gender-neutral language pleasantly surprised me and then disappointed me. Reading about multiple strategies to make language gender neutral delighted me. In contrast, it disappointed me to see they/them referred to as exclusively plural pronouns.
I expected a conversation about the usage of “they” as a singular gender-neutral pronoun, especially since this use is now prescribed by APA Seventh Edition. On the other hand, I realize that this textbook is four years older than the APA decision to adopt singular they. Which gender-neutral pronouns are conventional evolves with time, and at the time of Revising Professional Writing‘s publication, discussion of singular they was much quieter.
I think that editing for gender-neutral pronouns will be very important for my career goals even if I never work as an editor. Using gender-neutral pronouns is important for inclusivity and showing your knowledge of current professional norms.
Conclusions
Receiving direct advice for establishing a healthy editor-author relationship delighted me. The advice guided me in organizing my suggestions for the structural edit assignment, ensuring they were polite and persuasive.
Reading a comprehensive explanation of how to check subject-verb agreement surprised and delighted me. I expected subject-verb agreement to be much more complex than it is.
Reading advice for editing for gender neutral pronouns surprised me and left me feeling mixed. I appreciated the advice that was presented, but the textbook disappointed me by not addressing the use of they as a singular pronoun.