Since this was my first time having to completely edit another students paper, there were several problems I experienced in my first edit of some of the work. One the first issues I ran into had to do with photographs because most of the stories did not have a photograph provided with them and the ones that did needed to be adjusted slightly with an online program. I was somewhat familiar with the process of cropping photos, but it was still difficult for me to find a version of the photo that would be considered optimal. Finding the type of photos that are typically seen in newspapers is something I did not have the eye for at the outset of this project.
The only recommendation or changes I can offer that would be considered helpful to other writers is being sure to stay true to the style or genre of piece at hand and to stay loyal to the AP stylebook. The AP stylebook could help to eliminate at least half of the errors found in any paper because I know that when I write a story without it, I get my paper back with a lot of red marks.
The process of trimming these stories down is definitely frustrating at times, but it is a challenge that I am eager to accept because I really learn something new every time I make an edit. For instance, after my initial edit I went back a few days later and found several other formatting errors and sections that can be reduced.
The photography area is still a bit confusing to me simply because I need to see more examples of “print worthy” photos. This would be a great assistance to my photo/art editing skills. I would recommend that other students try to make sure their photos are original, acceptable, and most importantly unique. Some stories that have photos are just the obvious picture or something boring and they won’t even make it to print. You need to have a unique photograph that is colorful and will catch the attention of the reader right away. It also does not hurt if the picture is an action photo because action is always an attention grabber.
Overall I now know that being an editor is not simply just proofreading, there are several deeper layers far beyond that common misconception. An editor really shapes the story into what you read in the newspaper. I also am now fully aware that the editor handles all headline and photo responsibilities. It was my assumption that other people handled these procedures, like that the writer wrote the headline and picked the picture taken by a photographer, which is incorrect.
I learned a lot different techniques to use when editing stories for newspapers. One of the most essential techniques that all editors need to use is that less is more. I truly learned the value of that in this course this semester. An editor is responsible of ridding all stories of the extraneous fluff that some writers love to pepper into their stories. This was something that I actually enjoyed doing and have grown to enjoy no-nonsense, to the point, writing. I will carry all of this learned knowledge and acquired tools with me after this course.
The only recommendation or changes I can offer that would be considered helpful to other writers is being sure to stay true to the style or genre of piece at hand and to stay loyal to the AP stylebook. The AP stylebook could help to eliminate at least half of the errors found in any paper because I know that when I write a story without it, I get my paper back with a lot of red marks.
The process of trimming these stories down is definitely frustrating at times, but it is a challenge that I am eager to accept because I really learn something new every time I make an edit. For instance, after my initial edit I went back a few days later and found several other formatting errors and sections that can be reduced.
The photography area is still a bit confusing to me simply because I need to see more examples of “print worthy” photos. This would be a great assistance to my photo/art editing skills. I would recommend that other students try to make sure their photos are original, acceptable, and most importantly unique. Some stories that have photos are just the obvious picture or something boring and they won’t even make it to print. You need to have a unique photograph that is colorful and will catch the attention of the reader right away. It also does not hurt if the picture is an action photo because action is always an attention grabber.
Overall I now know that being an editor is not simply just proofreading, there are several deeper layers far beyond that common misconception. An editor really shapes the story into what you read in the newspaper. I also am now fully aware that the editor handles all headline and photo responsibilities. It was my assumption that other people handled these procedures, like that the writer wrote the headline and picked the picture taken by a photographer, which is incorrect.
I learned a lot different techniques to use when editing stories for newspapers. One of the most essential techniques that all editors need to use is that less is more. I truly learned the value of that in this course this semester. An editor is responsible of ridding all stories of the extraneous fluff that some writers love to pepper into their stories. This was something that I actually enjoyed doing and have grown to enjoy no-nonsense, to the point, writing. I will carry all of this learned knowledge and acquired tools with me after this course.