Better than nothing

[redbird]

Sometimes I have days that feel wasted, and it helps to inventory actual accomplishments.

Thus: I have done the laundry (and folded about a third of it thus far); I have sent an application for a proofreading project (which I suspect is actually a copyediting project); I have cooked lunch.

Unfortunately, I started feeling queasy about 2/3 of the way through lunch--which had been quite tasty until that moment--and didn't eat any more. So I'm sitting here, watching a cup of jasmine dragon tea brew and listening to Dennis Elsas on WFUV, and trying to avoid tedious grumbling. (I may delete this entire post later; don't leave deathless prose in comments unless you keep backups elsewhere.)

Addendum: The blessings of a well-stocked kitchen: I am now eating basmati rice with fresh ginger root (ginger being good for stomach and digestive troubles, and one of my favorite flavors), and drinking another cup of the dragon tea.

Comments

quick definitions and distinctions

[redbird]

Traditionally, the proofreader's job is to make sure that what's set in type for printing is what was on the manuscript. That is, to make sure that what you write, or what was created after the document was edited, is what you get, without omitted letters, doubled words, dropped lines, or paragraphs set upside down (that's a problem that at least one NY daily used to suffer, in the days of lead type).

The copyeditor's job is to look for some or all of the following: spelling errors (including the use of British spelling in a US publication or vice versa), grammatical errors, bad punctuation, factual errors (including anything from the spelling of Jane Austen's name to fine points of geography--there is no such thing as useless knowledge if you're a copyeditor), and inconsistencies (things like a child being born in Part 1 of a book, Part 2 being labeled "10 years later" and, at the beginning of that section, the child being 12 years old).

There's more and more overlap between the two, in part because proofreading is less necessary--and less useful--when authors supply camera-ready copy. For some reason, the term being used to cover the entire range of activities is usually "proofreader", perhaps because people who haven't done the work have no idea how many or varied things an author can accidentally get wrong.

Neither task can be adequately handled by current spelling and grammar checking software--though the software can be a useful tool, if the user knows what she's trying to accomplish and what its limitations are.

Re: quick definitions and distinctions

[tammylc.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the definitions!