Exercise: Shakespeare

When I was much younger [i.e. in my grammar school years], my mother used to read the Pied Piper of Hamelin to the other classes. She is still a brilliant proofreader and is one of the reasons I have managed to avoid many grammatical, syntactical, and puncuation errors in my childhood and teen years. Through what I learned from my mother, I have devised what I believe to be a stunningly ingenious way to detect the unwary, high-potential Copy Editor of untapped ability.

Read Shakespeare. Please, do it. Pick any of his playwrights up from your bookshelf (c'mon, you gotta have at least one!) and start reading. Check yourself. Did you pause at every line, or did you pause appropriately where puncuation permits? If you answered positively to the first part of the question, I recommend you read future posts from this blog as I will attempt to supply you with an adequate selection of proofreading exercises. And for those of you who answered positively to the second part of the question, you should consider yourself well prepared for the host of fellow students and/or hard workers clamoring around you in an attempt to have their masterpieces - whether hard or soft news articles, fiction, or essays - perused by a higher-order proofreader.

it is important for all Copy-Editors to understand what phrases and styles of English are meant to be read aloud [in, say, a speech] and which are meant for merely pen-and-paper. That is why the proper reading of Shakespeare is so important.
And now, I bid you...adieu.

- SeManTics

About the Copy-Editor

One final note for today: Who the Heck I am!!!

Ahem, well...good question. ;-)


I reported for my high school newspaper as an upperclassmen, working as its Copy-Editor during my second year. When I start my first year of college in late August, I will join its main student newspaper at the first opportunity.

In the meantime, I mean to sharping my proofing skills as best I can over the summer. A favorite quote of mine, paraphrased, states that we remember most of what we tell someone else. Therefore, an added bonus to this blog is that it engages a mutual partnership between me and my fellow readers.

Hey, um, I know I promised this would be my final post, but a brilliant thought jumped to my mind. Please, stay tuned [and scroll up LOL]!

Business at Hand

As a first notice, I would encourage my readers to pick up a copy of E. B. White's great book The Elements of Style. I have a copy that I somehow misplaced. Note that professional reporters tend not to misplace important items.

Oops.

But, no matter! Once I find it, I will highlight important sections I consider incredibly important to any serious Copy-Editor.



Endnote:
On my previous post, I'd made reference to "sources." The full list is as follows:
Editor & Publisher
High School Journalism
Journalism Professors
Newspaper Jobs
The Freedom Forum
Journalism Institute for Digital Education, Activities, and Society
Columbia Journalism Review
Columbia Scholastic Press Association
Poynter Online
Romenesko MediaNews
Books and Manuals
Journalism Workship Information
American Press Institute
Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
National Scholastic Press Association
University Interscholastic League
National Conference of Editorial Writers
National Council for the Social Studies
National Council of Teachers of English
The Coalition of Journalists for Open Government
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Criminal Justice Journalists
American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
Association of Opinion Page Editors
Broadcast Education Association
Inland Press Association
Journalism Education Association
National Newspaper Association
Newspaper Association of America
Newspaper Association of American Foudation
The Online News Association
SUNSHINE Week
The New York Times Learning Network
American Journalism Review
Daniel Pearl Foundation
Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc.
National Press Club
Organization of News Ombudsmen
Press Freedom Online
American Copy Editors Society
American Society of Journalists and Authors
National Society of Newspaper Columnists
Society of Professional Journalists
The American Society of Newspaper Editors
Teach the First Amendment
The Newspaper Guild – Communications Workers of America
Youth Editorial Alliance

- SeManTics

Revisions

Good afternoon from PST again.

Generally I'd expect myself to get my blog into shape as soon as I create it. However, I had only begun to pull together my sources and I'm seeking to divide this blog into thirds, not counting the addition of two new blogs that will complement (note the difference between complement and compliment) the extant gwallens and borderbuzz.

First, I will redesign this blog to cover only that which relates to educating the Copy Editors of tomorrow via sharing my own proofreading woes and ideas whilst providing exercises and infobits from other prominent websites. Thus, I have crafted a new penname specific to wrytgood that will appear momentarily. [Future] faithful readers of my blog will noticed that I had isolated for this blog only those aspects of journalism related to proper copy-editing.

Second, I will create two new blogs. I will title the first one "Media Sentiments" and the second "The Mammal's Portal," each with their own respective pennames. Media Sentiments will focus on American Journalism as a whole [leaving the copy-editing aspect(s) to this blog] and any confusion should be removed when the blog itself is created, whereas The Mammal's Portal will sport the Kiplinger Letter and U.S. Supreme Court 2005 Term Opinion commentary, thus removing those burdens from this blog.


Those are the essential new divisions of this blog. I'm hoping my first blog, Ideas and Opinions, will not fall out of use though that appears to be the case so long as I choose not to document any aspects of my personal life in any medium. Also, I tend to be a bit center-right on most issues, politically. Therefore, I've been altering the angle of my second blog, The Samaritan Report, to focus on these issues; to supplement the Report, I will create yet another new blog I will title "Frontline PST" to follow and decry the Los Angeles Times' poor coverage of Southern California and the Middle East. Finally, as a space exploration enthusiast I will create a final blog entitled "Forward Astra." Please keep out a wary, eagle eye for these up-and-coming additions/changes.


And now, to the business at hand...

- SeManTics

The Copy-Editor's Goals

Good evening from PST, folks.

I have created this blog to accomplish the following goals:

• To educate readers in good English as only a Copy-Editor can.
• To catalogue Supreme Court cases and Kiplinger Letter reports.
• To inform aspiring reporters of high school and college levels.
• To reveal the State of the First Amendment within the USA.

Though this blog'll be off to a slow start, I expect its pace'll pick up once my sources are suitably organized.

Until then, Hail the Freedom of the Press!!!