Definition of editing. What is editing? Test questions and assignments

From the needs of practice, even at the handwritten stage of producing a document, proofreading arose (from Lat. correctico – correction, improvement, amendment)– the simplest form of editing.

Over time, the very concept of editing has evolved, which includes analyzing the text, checking and clarifying the information presented in it, evaluating and improving the style of presentation.

The term itself “text” (from Latin textus) means connection, literally - "textile" Therefore, when speaking about the text of a manuscript, we mean its “linguistic fabric”, which can easily be damaged by a careless touch. To understand the text, it is not enough to understand the meaning of an isolated phrase: each verbal construction includes (should, in any case) the meaning of the previous one, i.e. The semantically important word of the sentence, which contains a new meaning about the subject of thought, is repeated in the next sentence. Thus, the syntactic structure of reasoning reflects the movement, development, and cohesion of thoughts.

Typical errors found in scientific and educational literature.

Very often, text overload occurs from the use of figures of speech containing unambiguous and therefore unnecessary words, for example: in the month of November, vacancy, direct eyewitness, specific features or often used - “seminar classes” ( although the concept of “seminar” means group practical classes under the guidance of a teacher).

You also need to be careful when choosing prepositions.

For example, the prepositions “for” and “by” are not synonymous. The preposition “by” does not have a target meaning in a sentence either « what is being done For crime prevention" use of preposition "By" would be inappropriate.

But even among the synonymous prepositions in view of, in connection with, due to, because of, because of, expressing causal relationships, you can always choose the one that is preferable in this case, taking into account the semantic shades, for example, it is better to say “in view of the upcoming conference” than “ as a result” and vice versa, it is better – “due to illness” than “due to”.

Note that writing a preposition "in view of" different from spelling "keep in mind" , and the words “ according to", "contrary to", "thanks to" require the dative case, not the genitive case, therefore - according to the order at , but not order A .

When choosing a preposition in combination "for the purpose-with a purpose" It must be taken into account that the combination "with the aim of" used only with verbs ( in order to implement ), and “for the purposes of” – with verbal noun ( for the purpose of implementation). To avoid repeating them in the text, you can use the preposition “for” (for implementation...).

Quite often, words with the same root, similar in meaning, but different in formation: with different prefixes, suffixes, etc., are used incorrectly.

So verb "to impose" in the meaning of “subject to something”, “oblige”, “assign, prescribe something” are used in a limited range of stable combinations, for example: “ impose a fine", "impose a penalty". The imperfect form of this verb is “to impose,” not “to impose.” Therefore the expression will be incorrect "impose a fine" instead of "to impose a fine (collection )».

You must be careful when writing the following expressions:

Right		Wrong
To initiate criminal proceedings	but not	Open a criminal case
Postpone the case	but not	Postpone the matter
Changing the classification of the crime	but not	Overstating the crime
Strengthen or soften the punishment	but not	Shorten or lengthen punishment
Record your own readings	but not	Give your own testimony
Criminal cases are combined and isolated	but not	Unite and divide
Punishments: basic and additional (there may be a suspended sentence)	but not	Conditional and unconditional
The punishment is assigned	but not	Define
Property is seized	but not	Arrested
The verdict remains unchanged	but not	In force
The death penalty is an exceptional punishment	but not	Higher
The court reviews and examines evidence	but not	Studying
Petitions are filed in court	but not	excite
The cassation court gives explanations	but not	Indications
The claim is presented	but not	They take it out
Specific property is stolen (theft is directed only against property)	but not	Own
Sentenced to 3 years or sentenced to one and a half years	but not	Give it three years
Sentenced to imprisonment	but not	Sentenced to imprisonment

In practice, questions also often arise related to standard spelling (spelling, punctuation), for example.

Bazanova A.E.

B 17 Literary editing: Textbook. allowance. - Part I. - M.: RUDN Publishing House, 2006. - 105 p.

ISBN 5-209-01880-6

The first part of the manual outlines the basics of literary editing techniques and pays attention to the peculiarities of the editor’s work. The manual includes a program and additional materials on literary editing.

For undergraduate and graduate students in the humanities, university teachers, researchers, as well as for a wide range of readers who want to become familiar with the techniques and skills of editing a manuscript.

Preface 4

DEFINITION, SUBJECT AND TASKS OF LITERARY EDITING………………………………………………… 6

HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY EDITING………………………… 8

ROLE OF THE EDITOR IN THE PUBLISHING PROCESSE………........ 11

GENERAL EDITING TECHNIQUE……………………… 14

Characteristics of the publishing process and its stages 14

Logical Basics of Text Editing 17

Editing text. Types of editing…………………………………… 24

The editor’s work on the composition of the work…………… 32

Types of texts. Editing texts of various types

presentation……………………………………………………………. 40

Work on the actual material of the manuscript 49

Working on the title of the manuscript 57

Working on the book apparatus 58

Working on the language and style of the manuscript 63

LITERATURE 70

Applications

Annex 1.

Course program “Literary Editing” for third-year student journalists, 6th semester 73

Questions for the exam on literary editing 80

Approximate topics for bachelor's and master's theses 82

Appendix 2.

M. Gorky. Letters to aspiring writers 83

Definition, subject and tasks of literary editing

The term “editing” comes from the Latin “redactus”, which means “put in order”, and in modern Russian it has three main meanings:

1) management of the publication of something;

2) checking and correcting any text, its final processing before publication;

3) exact verbal expression, formulation of any thought or concept.

Currently, the first meaning has become firmly established in editorial practice as the responsibility of the editor-in-chief; the content of the second and third meanings reflect various aspects of editing. The second meaning represents the area of editing that concerns social and literary work related to the activities of the media. The third is part of the scientific and literary work that every author is engaged in, regardless of what field of creative activity (scientific, journalistic, artistic) he is engaged in.

Thus, it can be said that editing is currently an area of social activity and literary and creative practice, which includes all aspects of work on a manuscript, that is, it is a single creative process that includes evaluating the topic, checking and correcting its presentation in the manuscript from the point of view of social and factual (scientific) , technical, special), checking the development of the topic and literary processing of the text.

Editing as new humanities discipline has been developing since the 50s of the 20th century and is mainly practical in nature. The impetus for the development of the theory of editing was the requirements of practical publishing activities (after the revolution in Russia, newspaper and publishing business began to develop rapidly, there were not enough qualified workers and a need arose for specially trained editorial staff).

Usually in editing they formally distinguish three aspect - political, scientific and literary editing. Editorial work on content manuscripts can be called political and scientific editing. Editor's work on shape manuscript (its composition, language and style) - literary editing. All three aspects of editing, in accordance with the laws of philosophy, are inextricably linked - this follows from the unity of the categories of content and form.

Political and scientific editing require a certain amount of knowledge, which students receive while studying socio-economic disciplines and disciplines in their specialty. Literary editing presupposes some specific knowledge and skills (editing signs, editorial reading techniques, types of editing, etc.), therefore, specifically for educational purposes, it is separated from the other two components of editing and studied as a special journalistic discipline. Sometimes this is also done for purely practical purposes to train editors, literary staff, and proofreaders.

Subject of literary editing as an academic discipline - the study of the activities of a literary editor of a publishing house or a literary employee in the media during his work on a manuscript.

Literary editing tasks - to teach the future journalist the ability to achieve the greatest correspondence between the form and content of a work, the accuracy of the use of factual material, improving the compositional structure, logical clarity, and competent lexical and statistical design of both one’s own and someone else’s work.

Every day we read various texts - articles in newspapers and magazines, small notes, textbooks, manuals, books, documents. All this, after being written, is not immediately published or goes into print. Creation, editing - the stages of the appearance of the finished text. What is meant by the latter term? What types of editing exist and what is their essence?

Editing concept

"Editing" comes from Latin. There is such a word in it as redactus. Its meaning is “put in order.” In Russian, “editing” refers to multidimensional concepts. It has several meanings:

Editing primarily refers to the correction of written text, the elimination of spelling, punctuation, and stylistic errors. This word also means changing the design of a document (changing the font, indents and other technical parameters of the text, dividing it into columns).
There is another definition. Editing is a type of professional activity. The media employ editors who prepare printed publications for publication.

Types of editing and their definitions

Editing can be divided into 2 types. These are general, also called universal, and special. The first type of editing refers to a holistic system of the editor’s work on the text. During the correction, the written word is improved, spelling errors and repetitions of words are eliminated.

Special editing is work on a text from any special aspect, for the assessment and analysis of which there is not enough general knowledge. This work can be performed by editors who are deep experts in a certain field of knowledge to which the text or document being corrected relates. Special editing has a classification. It is divided into:

literary;
scientific;
artistic and technical.

Literary editing

Literary editing is a process in which the literary form of the text or work being reviewed is analyzed, evaluated, and improved. The editor carries out the following work:

corrects lexical errors;
brings the text style to perfection;
eliminates logical errors, improves the form of the text (breaks it into paragraphs, chapters or combines fragments);
shortens the text while maintaining the semantic content;
checks factual material (dates, names, quotations, statistical values).

Scientific editing

A huge number of books and articles have been written on certain scientific topics (for example, medical ones). Often the authors are not specialists. Reputable publishing houses use the services of scientific editors. These people check the text scientifically, eliminate any inaccuracies, and remove irrelevant and false information.

It is worth noting that the names of scientific editors in books and journals are indicated on the title page in accordance with the requirements of publishing standards. A note that a scientific editor was involved in the project serves as a guarantee of the high quality of the text and the veracity of the information presented.

Artistic and technical editing

Art editing in reputable publishing houses is performed by art editors. They design the cover and the entire magazine, newspaper or book, selecting images and color schemes. Thus, artistic editing is a process in which the design of a publication is developed, sketches, layouts, and illustrations are created, analyzed and evaluated from artistic and printing points of view.

There is also such a thing as technical editing. During it, the technical parameters of text typing and its layout are adjusted, fonts, their sizes, indents, line spacing are changed if necessary, numbered ones are added for ease of perception of information.

Modern editing capabilities

Almost all modern people can no longer imagine their lives without computers. This technology is available in housing, educational institutions, and various organizations and companies. With the help of computers, a variety of texts are created: articles, abstracts, dissertations and documents. A huge number of programs have been developed that have opened up wide possibilities for editing.

One of the famous computer programs is Microsoft Word. Using it, you can not only type text, but also edit files and format them properly:

remove spelling and (in the text they are by default underlined with red and green wavy lines);
change the size of the margins, select the appropriate page settings (portrait or landscape orientation);
add various underlines, highlight text in the right places with different colors, quickly insert bullets and numbering;
divide the text into columns, insert tables, charts, graphs, images, add footnotes, hyperlinks.

Quite often in the process of work, users are faced with the need to edit. This format is common and popular. Special programs have been created to edit such files. They allow users to delete unnecessary pages, highlight important points with bright colors, and move text and graphic blocks. Editing "PDF" using programs is very easy, because their interface is intuitive. All the necessary tools are displayed in the programs on the panels.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that editing is an important process of preparing texts. It can be carried out using various computer programs. They provide users with ample opportunities. With their help, ordinary text without design can be turned into a business report, properly formatted, or into a bright advertisement that attracts a resume.

1. Editing and proofreading

It is an independent type of editorial work. It should be distinguished from proofreading, which ends the preparation of the original for submission to typesetting.

The proofreader’s task is to correct mistakes, unify notations and abbreviations, bring all references and footnotes into a single system, etc.

Editing and proofreading is used in preparation for the release of reprints, as well as documentary materials of various types. This type of editing is applied to: official materials, works of classical writers, publications of historical documents.

2. Editing-cutting

It is used when, for one reason or another, it is necessary to reduce the volume of the text, but without compromising its content.

Texts that contain length, unnecessary repetitions, similar facts, and small details are subject to reduction.

Sometimes an editor needs to present material on a strictly established number of sheets, lines or characters (for example, in encyclopedias, reference books, periodicals). The editor should leave only the most important, reducing everything that is unimportant.

Works of classic literature studied in secondary school, as well as anthologies, can be published in abridged form.

The author himself can make corrections and reductions.

3. Editing-processing
- a correction of the manuscript that allows it to be considered a publishing original, ready for printing.

When editing and processing, the entire complex of operations is used: factual data is clarified, compositional shortcomings are corrected, logical inconsistencies are eliminated, and the linguistic side of the work is improved (all lexical and stylistic shortcomings are eliminated). All major changes made to the text by the editor must be agreed with the author. Otherwise, the literary staff member processes the material independently, trying to preserve the author’s style (style), correcting only what contradicts the norms of the language and distorts the idea.

4. Editing and reworking

It is used in preparing for printing manuscripts of those authors who have a poor command of the literary language. Editing and reworking is widely used in newspaper editorial offices, especially in letter departments, since materials sent by readers, for various reasons, can be difficult to send to print in the form in which they were received.

A type of editing and reworking is the so-called “literary recording”. This is a recording of an experienced person’s story about his life, work, and successes. Based on these stories, the writer-editor, in collaboration with the author-storyteller, creates a literary work. Or literary workers themselves select literary material and write the necessary text that is consistent with this person. If such material is signed not by a newspaper employee, but by the person who endorsed the text, then this is called “ghost-writing”.

“Co-authorship” is expressed not only in the fact that, on the basis of written materials or an oral story, a journalist writes an article and another person signs it, but also in the fact that he includes his own view of things in it, passes off his opinion as the author’s, i.e. e. for the opinion of the one who signed the article.

Editorial and technical processing of all texts of the publishing original in preparing it for production, during which spelling and punctuation errors are eliminated, uniform spelling of abbreviations, titles and other elements of the text is established, the system of highlighting, references, correctness of numbering is checked, and the editor is drawn to semantic meanings that have gone unnoticed by him , factual, stylistic errors. Proofreading is usually carried out by a proofreader or literary editor.

Proofreading

- a set of proofreading corrections and the very process of correcting errors and eliminating technical defects in the typesetting proof and printed form, including reading proof proofs and proofreading. The main tasks of the proofreader:
- 1) elimination of typesetter errors that distort the original (omissions, rearrangements of letters, syllables, punctuation marks, etc.);
- 2) elimination of errors not noticed in the original.

Editing the text is necessary in order to:

1) eliminate errors remaining after the author’s revision;

2) achieve clarity and clarity of wording;

3) check the factual material and rid the manuscript of inaccuracies;

4) eliminate the roughness of language and style;

5) technically process the manuscript.

Types of editing

In practice, there are 4 types of editing.

1. Editing and proofreading

It is an independent type of editorial work. It should be distinguished from proofreading, which ends the preparation of the original for submission to typesetting.

The proofreader’s task is to correct mistakes, unify notations and abbreviations, bring all references and footnotes into a single system, etc.

2. Editing-cutting

It is used when, for one reason or another, it is necessary to reduce the volume of the text, but without compromising its content.

Texts that contain length, unnecessary repetitions, similar facts, and small details are subject to reduction.

Works of classic literature studied in secondary school, as well as anthologies, can be published in abridged form.

The author himself can make corrections and reductions.

3. Editing-processing

Such a correction of the manuscript, which allows it to be considered a publishing original, ready for printing.

4. Editing and reworking

Proofreading

The set of proofreading corrections and the process of correcting errors and eliminating technical defects in the proofprint of a typesetting and printed form, including reading proofsheets and proofreading. The main tasks of the proofreader:

1) elimination of typesetter errors that distort the original (omissions, rearrangements of letters, syllables, punctuation marks, etc.);

2) elimination of errors not noticed in the original.

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