dragonfly editorial

When Editors Need Editors

Posted by: Samantha Enslen, president and senior editor, June 13th, 2007

Correspondent T.E.L. kindly writes to tell me that there’s a typo on my website. How can this be? A typo on the website of a copyeditor?

It was too true. In a blog post, I had mentioned that computer systems should be backed up “several times as day” — instead of “several times a day.”

It wasn’t the most egregious typo in the world, but it was a typo, nonetheless. And it serves as a reminder that even editors need editors — when they’re working as writers. Because even if you’re an editorial perfectionist, when you’re writing, it’s very hard to see mistakes in your own copy. You know what each word is supposed to be, and that’s what your eyes see: what the word should be, not necessarily what it is.

It is for this reason that I’ve also written of individuals using the Internet to “exchange extremely large flies.” The response from another great editor reading my copy? (1) That’s gross; and (2) I think you mean files.

Thanks, T.E.L, and E.F., for keeping me on my toes.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 at 11:15 am and is filed under Editorial process, Typos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply

What do our clients think?

Press Releases

view archives

Latest Comments

  • Samantha: Great concept … I love the idea of creating a new life...
  • Tracy Salcedo-Chourre: I love the ellipses. It either makes you look...
  • Greg H: What a truly fabulous blog post! Who would imagine those simple,...