Resources

By Jonathon Owen Cleft sentences are one of the most common constructions that you’ve probably never heard of, though you almost certainly use them without even thinking about it. They’re formed when you break an ordinary sentence into two pieces to foreground a particular part of it, as in Mr. Rogers’s “It’s you I like,” which contrasts…

By Dawn McIlvain Stahl When an English major becomes an editor of books and then transitions into an editor of “content” and social media, she becomes very susceptible to the book itch. You may know the book itch. Not the one that Claritin clears up. The one that says you need books in your life in a…

By Andy Hollandbeck There’s a lot of negativity in the press these days. Regardless of our political and ethical beliefs, we copy editors are charged with making sure that negativity is expressed properly, so it’s a good idea to make sure you understand two very negative words that can easily be confused because they differ…

By Kate Fedewa O’Connor At the beginning of the semester, I tell my students that the best editors are good researchers. I mean this to be reassuring—they don’t need to memorize every entry in the AP Stylebook or learn every grammar rule by heart. But while we have stylebooks and dictionaries and usage guides, we also…

By William Hickman If you are an editor, should you be aware of libel law? And why? Libel law says that if you damage the reputation of someone by making a false public statement, you can be hauled into court by that person. If you cause people to think less of someone, that person can…

By Andy Bechtel A new government recently took power in Carrboro, North Carolina—at least in name. The town, which is home to about 20,000 people, is now ruled by a Town Council instead of a Board of Aldermen. The Carrboro council is typical of local governments in North Carolina, consisting of six members and  the mayor.…

By Andy Hollandbeck They both date back to the 16th century, and they’re right next to each other in the dictionary, two words that don’t get a lot of use but that certainly give our language more color: inveigh and inveigle. And because they are rarely used and are so similar, it’s easy to mistake…

By Karen Yin Remarks from “Is This Racist? How Editors Can Identify Hidden Bias” at the 2017 ACES: The Society for Editing conference. Simply knowing the appropriate terminology for talking about race, ethnicity, and nationality doesn’t mean that our work is automatically free of unnecessary bias. None of us can be fully aware of how our…

By Constance Brossa It’s hard out here for small businesses.  As recently as 2018, 30 million of them were vying for the universal trifecta of profitability, sustainability and visibility. Despite their common pursuits, all of these enterprises possess something unique: their brand story. And if constructed correctly, that story can help the company establish a…

By Andy Hollandbeck We don’t love all words in the same way. Some we love because they are workaday, utilitarian workhorses. Some are so specific that we jump at any opportunity to use them. But some, like the three outlined here, are just fun to say. Sure, these three words, which all come from French,…