Deflag
It's a very publishing sort of term -- deflag -- and unlike most things in publishing, it means exactly what it says. The copyediting office in Toronto has just sent me back a copy of Theo (aka The Santorini Bride) liberally gummed up with little pink pieces of paper that hang over the end and wave in the breeze: flags.
My job is to re-read the manuscript and look at all the changes the editor (who did the line edit) and the copy editor (who did the copy-edit) have made (which actually aren't that many and most have to do with something they call 'house style' and I call 'fussing.' But we won't go there right now. Later. We will go there later) and do something about them.
So . . . I read and I consider and whenever I come across a pale pink flag sticking out from the manuscript, I read it and make a decision about what to do about it, and then I deflag the manuscript by tearing it off.
This copyeditor is one who has worked on my books for probably at least 15 years. We understand each other (we don't always agree with each other. But we do know what makes each other crazy). So when she says (probably 3x) on a pink slip, I know I've used the word 'probably' three times in the space of less than a page -- often much less -- and it's making her tear her hair and could she possibly persuade me to do something about it? Yep.
Sometimes, though, she says things on her little pink pieces of paper like, "I don't believe this was discussed earlier so they can't say it was now." Which is one of those editorial things that make me tear my hair, because in fact they had discussed it earlier, but the editor drew a line through it! Argh. So then I (calmly) remove the flag, restore the line (which I'd already done) and move on. Sometimes she saves my neck with one of her pink flags because she understands what I'm trying to say (feebly) and suggests something better.
She also writes me cheery little notes on the flag or on the margins when she particularly likes something. I have one of her flags (from 1991, I think) faded and weary looking, tacked on the bookshelf above my computer. The writing (in red pencil) is so faint now I can't read it anymore, but she liked the book and said something about "a masterful writer." Inasmuch as she's the only one (besides my dad) who ever noticed that, I keep it front and center. Thanks, Judi!
So Theo is being deflagged this weekend, with a little time out for cooking a leg of lamb for Easter (me, not him). Then it's back to work on Spence on Monday. Those palm trees are looking decidedly South Pacific (no, not the movie).
ps: 'House style' precludes the use of parentheses. I wonder if that's why I feel suddenly compelled to use them (sometimes more than once) in nearly every sentence!
My job is to re-read the manuscript and look at all the changes the editor (who did the line edit) and the copy editor (who did the copy-edit) have made (which actually aren't that many and most have to do with something they call 'house style' and I call 'fussing.' But we won't go there right now. Later. We will go there later) and do something about them.
So . . . I read and I consider and whenever I come across a pale pink flag sticking out from the manuscript, I read it and make a decision about what to do about it, and then I deflag the manuscript by tearing it off.
This copyeditor is one who has worked on my books for probably at least 15 years. We understand each other (we don't always agree with each other. But we do know what makes each other crazy). So when she says (probably 3x) on a pink slip, I know I've used the word 'probably' three times in the space of less than a page -- often much less -- and it's making her tear her hair and could she possibly persuade me to do something about it? Yep.
Sometimes, though, she says things on her little pink pieces of paper like, "I don't believe this was discussed earlier so they can't say it was now." Which is one of those editorial things that make me tear my hair, because in fact they had discussed it earlier, but the editor drew a line through it! Argh. So then I (calmly) remove the flag, restore the line (which I'd already done) and move on. Sometimes she saves my neck with one of her pink flags because she understands what I'm trying to say (feebly) and suggests something better.
She also writes me cheery little notes on the flag or on the margins when she particularly likes something. I have one of her flags (from 1991, I think) faded and weary looking, tacked on the bookshelf above my computer. The writing (in red pencil) is so faint now I can't read it anymore, but she liked the book and said something about "a masterful writer." Inasmuch as she's the only one (besides my dad) who ever noticed that, I keep it front and center. Thanks, Judi!
So Theo is being deflagged this weekend, with a little time out for cooking a leg of lamb for Easter (me, not him). Then it's back to work on Spence on Monday. Those palm trees are looking decidedly South Pacific (no, not the movie).
ps: 'House style' precludes the use of parentheses. I wonder if that's why I feel suddenly compelled to use them (sometimes more than once) in nearly every sentence!
posted by Anne McAllister at 9:33 AM
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