ACES News
Clamp down on unhelping verbs
By Andy Hollandbeck Give the bear a kiss. Give the teddy bear a kiss, or kiss the bear? One of the jobs of an editor is to help writers avoid wordiness and redundancy. One place to focus on this issue is in verb choice. Too often, writers will fall back on a verb–article–direct object structure…
Read MoreZinsser’s lessons and legacy will continue to be shared
By Matthew Crowley Whether on my bookshelf (first physical, now virtual), or in my head, William Zinsser has been my essential, career-long writing coach. For years, he’s patiently nudged me toward clarity and vitality, paragraph by paragraph, subject by verb, revision by mounting revision. Count me among the army of writers whose habits his “On…
Read MoreE-book on plagiarism, fabrication released in advance of summit
By ACES Staff The American Copy Editors Society, in conjunction with 10 other journalism organizations, has released its first e-book, “Telling the Truth and Nothing But,” in advance of the National Summit to Fight Plagiarism and Fabrication on April 5. “Telling the Truth and Nothing But” is designed for media professionals who are responding to…
Read MoreReaders prefer edited news, research sponsored by ACES finds
By ACES Staff For years, copy editors have been preaching that editing matters in stories posted on websites as much as it does in those published in print. But the rush to be first online has often meant that stories get posted without going through the copy desk. Questions about how readers view the quality…
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