November 20, 2019

In response to the claim that technical editors need not be “grammarians”

November 20, 2019

Perhaps it comes down to what you mean by “grammar”

I would argue that while for writers grammar can be (to quote Joan Didion) “the piano they play by ear,” this won’t do for editors. Editors should not only know how to read the notes, they should be able to compose the music.

Odile Sullivan-Tarazi

September 23, 2019

Inside the words

Odile Sullivan-Tarazi

September 23, 2019

GOOD EDITORS WORK INSIDE THE STRUCTURES OF THOUGHT

When you understand the structures that we weave thought into — the structures that make up phrases, clauses, entire sentences — when you learn how to shape and reshape them for different purposes, then you command thought, you command language.

Odile Sullivan-Tarazi

February 2, 2017

The education of an editor

Odile Sullivan-Tarazi

February 2, 2017

Becoming a worker of words

Read deeply and broadly in the literature of the language (fiction and non) across time — taking in the rhythms of it, the cadence, the marshaling of words on the page, the words themselves.

Odile Sullivan-Tarazi

October 17, 2016

And, yes, this is editing too

Odile Sullivan-Tarazi

October 17, 2016

It goes well beyond “grammar”

Editing means paying close attention. And being informed. It means questioning every detail from the smallest to the largest.

Odile Sullivan-Tarazi

September 17, 2016

Letter to a novice editor

Odile Sullivan-Tarazi

September 17, 2016

In response to the claim that no two editors will edit alike, the unstated corollary being that all editorial decisions must be equally good

Well, it’s true that no two editors will come up with exactly the same solutions. Each editor will bring individual sensibilities to the work, as well as different ranges of experience, different schooling.