Staff Picks: Essential MS Word Tools and Features

So you’ve been using F7 and Find and Replace. Now, it’s time you discover other Microsoft Word tools and features that could make you a more productive copy editor.

Although we’ve heard about books entirely written by computers, we still believe that writing and editing are tasks that cannot fully be done automatically. But that doesn’t mean writers and editors should do the entire content development process manually. In the same way that doctors have medical equipment and carpenters have toolboxes, there are a lot of tools available now to help writers and editors streamline the process. And most of these tools are already available in your favorite word processing software.

“Good Writers Don’t Need Copy Editors” and Other Myths (Part 4)

We’re still busting some of the most common misconceptions about copy editors. Last time, we clarified that a superior vocabulary is not as important as knowing how to deal with words, phrases and idioms that are unfamiliar. Before that, we also mentioned that a journalism or English degree is not a strict requirement for copy editor and that there are opportunities for copy editors outside the newsroom or publishing firms. Now, we try to clarify the copy editor’s scope by busting the fourth myth:

Common Misconceptions About Copy Editors (Part 3)

Sources summarize copy editing as making copy correct, complete, concise, clear and consistent — the five Cs, as the pros call them. It is often confused with either proofreading or developmental editing. You’d probably think that to be a successful copy editor, you’d have to love writing, or you’d need to be a grammar geek. But actually, the role goes beyond checking for subject-verb agreement and usage errors. So what does it actually take to be a copy editor?

Story Relay #01: Behind the Story

Editor’s note: We’ve finally released the output of the first Story Relay. Here, Sue Quirante shares her experience as the first story master. This post explains the process she as well as the rest of the Project Chiron staff went through from producing the story seed to moderating the Relay and polishing the output.

When Project Chiron decided to develop Story Relay, all we had was the tentative idea of bringing chain writing online. The specifics about how we were going to do it were left to me as the first story master. I had to write my own instruction manual. Research on collaborative writing led me to a variety of rules and forms from highly structured renga to loose collections of images, text, and videos of online story challenges.

Story Relay #01: “Aaban”

We’re delighted to present the final version of the output of Story Relay’s first run. In case you missed our updates on Story Relay, we posted the seed on our Facebook page in December and ran the relay for two weeks with Sue Quirante as story master. After weeks of discussions and polishing the output, here’s “Aaban” in slideshow and Scribd formats.

“Good Writers Don’t Need Copy Editors” and Other Myths (Part 2)

Most people would think they have a clear idea of what copy editing is or what copy editors do. After all, copy editing seems straightforward: editing copy. I thought that way too. But my first week on the job made me realize a lot of my assumptions were wrong.

Sources summarize copy editing as making copy correct, complete, concise, clear and consistent — the five Cs as the pros call them. It is often confused with either proofreading or developmental editing. You’d probably think that to be a successful copy editor, you’d have to love writing, or you’d need to be a grammar geek. But actually, the role goes beyond checking for subject-verb agreement and usage errors. So what does it actually take to be a copy editor?

“Good Writers Don’t Need Copy Editors” and Other Myths (Part 1)

When I decided to leave my post as head writer in a TV show to pursue a career as a copy editor in a publishing solutions firm, friends and family members were confused as to  how to react. Unfortunately, copy editing is not a popular career where I come from.

Most people would think they have a clear idea of what copy editing is or what copy editors do. After all, copy editing seems straightforward: editing copy. I thought that way too. But my first week on the job made me realize a lot of my assumptions were wrong.

Sources summarize copy editing as making copy correct, complete, concise, clear and consistent — the five Cs as the pros call them. It is often confused with either proofreading or developmental editing. You’d probably think that to be a successful copy editor, you’d have to love writing, or you’d need to be a grammar geek. But actually, the role goes beyond checking for subject-verb agreement and usage errors. So what does it actually take to be a copy editor?

Story Relay #01 Output Teaser

Original image: Sue Quirante.

Project Chiron’s Top Posts of 2012

Happy 2013!

For us at Project Chiron, the past year was filled with experiments and discussions, and as we look back at our humble milestones, we recognize that Project Chiron is still a work in progress and the best is yet to come. We’ve had fun sharing news, prompts and posts that we hope were useful to you. Among all of our original posts for 2012, here are the five topics that were most commented, liked and shared on Facebook and on our blog:

Story Relay #01 Closed

After two weeks, the first run of Story Relay closed on December 28, 2012. Thanks to those who contributed to the relay and to those who helped us spread the word.