English 5365 Week Five Post
Topic: What are the most valuable types or strategies to commenty you've seen? What worked or didn't work on the comments offered by Dr. Rice?
I first posted this response late last night and have since felt the need to entirely rework it. Please forgive me if you have already read the previous version.
As with the question of what is style, what type of commentary do you prefer is a matter of personal choice and experience. I define style within my realm of experience and I may prefer one type of commentary over another simply because I like it better.
I like positive comments, but I think we all do, and we do not grow without getting negative feedback as well. Giving negative feedback is tricky. You don't want the writer to feel that you have insulted them or their intelligence by assuming that they cannot understand the error once pointed out, yet you cannot assume that the writer will see the error or understand how to fix it once it has been indicated.
As a technical editor, I vary rarely leave comments other than the canned ones that state, "Author, Please confirm that the changes made to improve the English retain the original meaning." I usually make the changes and let the Edit Trace tell the tale. This is a matter of expediency more than anything else.
I like to see some overall comments on the paper, concept, or organization, followed by individual comments on the style or ideas, especially when they are out of place or even a little crazy.
Dr. Rice's comments are ones that I can implement to improve my paper. He called me out on some bits of frippery that truly did not belong in the paper but ended up there because of my difficulty in writing it. He also noted some very embarrassing lapses in my editing, embarrassing to me anyway because I spend most of my day correcting others' embarrassing lapses.
I first posted this response late last night and have since felt the need to entirely rework it. Please forgive me if you have already read the previous version.
As with the question of what is style, what type of commentary do you prefer is a matter of personal choice and experience. I define style within my realm of experience and I may prefer one type of commentary over another simply because I like it better.
I like positive comments, but I think we all do, and we do not grow without getting negative feedback as well. Giving negative feedback is tricky. You don't want the writer to feel that you have insulted them or their intelligence by assuming that they cannot understand the error once pointed out, yet you cannot assume that the writer will see the error or understand how to fix it once it has been indicated.
As a technical editor, I vary rarely leave comments other than the canned ones that state, "Author, Please confirm that the changes made to improve the English retain the original meaning." I usually make the changes and let the Edit Trace tell the tale. This is a matter of expediency more than anything else.
I like to see some overall comments on the paper, concept, or organization, followed by individual comments on the style or ideas, especially when they are out of place or even a little crazy.
Dr. Rice's comments are ones that I can implement to improve my paper. He called me out on some bits of frippery that truly did not belong in the paper but ended up there because of my difficulty in writing it. He also noted some very embarrassing lapses in my editing, embarrassing to me anyway because I spend most of my day correcting others' embarrassing lapses.
posted by Jessica Badger at
9:59 PM
1 Comments:
Hi, Jessica,
I agree with your comment that we like positive comments. I do as well. :) Dr. Rice called me out on a couple of things that I should have seen as well. I wonder how Steinbeck or Twain felt about editors' comments.
I feel compelled to make changes fast, rework, edit again, and at the same time I get a little irritated about a couple of suggested changes and want to explain, no, I really meant that (I think). :) Yes, it's about second guessing at that point.
Accepting comments is a humbling experience in may ways, but in a lot of situations, it will only improve the product if we heed them.
I could really relate to your post.
Thanks!
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