Tag Archives: editing

Your title is verbose.

Posted on June 24, 2023 by Robert Basil

An example of editing.

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Yelling at your editor

Posted on June 15, 2023 by Robert Basil

In earlier writing here on mentorship, I noted that you do not have to actually like your mentors to have a fruitful relationship with them. In one post, “Mentorship without Friendship,” I wrote: “A mentor sees in her or his … Continue reading →

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Prime Yourself

Posted on May 6, 2022 by Robert Basil

There needs to be two of you: you and “you prime.” The latter is an heuristic entity brought into being by you for the purpose of protecting and orienting you. Your “you prime” makes the hard decisions – saying no to … Continue reading →

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I wish I had written this.

Posted on April 10, 2021 by Robert Basil

Back in the day a journalist for the Norfolk Pilot newspaper got his copy back from his editor with this note: “Sorry it’s so short but a certain amount of muck, spleen, libel, hogwash, garbage, neologism, prurience, presumption, assumption, half-assumption, … Continue reading →

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Editing for a civil society

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Robert Basil

Friend of No Contest Communications Chet Wisniewsiki, a principal research scientist at Sophos, woke me up with this short thread earlier this week:

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Happy to help

Posted on November 3, 2019 by Robert Basil

Twice in the last week I have helped to prevent a calamity from befalling a colleague. One colleague was irritated and the other was infuriated to receive my editorial help, though they each requested it. Both will come out “smelling … Continue reading →

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Editors are there for you.

Posted on June 16, 2018 by Robert Basil

This note appears in Seymour Hersh’s Reporter: A Memoir.  The last seven words are utterly splendid. Here is a congenial interview with Hersh by Christian Lorentzen.

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Editing and Gender

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Robert Basil

The New York Times obituary of famed film editor Anne V. Coates is very charming. Ms. Coates vowed to find a way to make a career in cinema. She would need to overcome not only her family’s resistance but also … Continue reading →

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More on editing

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Robert Basil

In an early NoContest.CA post on editing, I described “the 9 C’s” I use when evaluating another writer’s work: completeness conciseness clarity convincingness currency correctness consistency congruency courtesy I added: Almost all writers need a second set of eyes to assess … Continue reading →

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Self-revision

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Robert Basil

It is hard to edit one’s own work into its final version; you always need a second pair of eyes. One can, though, review and recast one’s work using intelligent techniques. My former mentor NYU Journalism professor Jay Rosen mentions two … Continue reading →

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