Recap: Good Old-Fashioned Editing with Charlene Rooke

Charlene Rooke at Alberta Magazines Conference (photo courtesy Don Molyneaux and Sandra Markieta)

Editor Charlene Rooke sure packed a ton of info into her session "Stet: A Return to Good, Old-Fashioned Editing" at the Alberta Magazines Conference. She covered everything from the role of the editor to the editing process to essential story elements to a line-editing checklist. Here's a recap of some of her pearls of wisdom.

Role of the Editor

• The editor is the personality of the magazine.
• Be able to pluck stories out of the air; see trends; connect the dots between disparate pieces.
• Be curiosity driven.
• Believe in the transformative potential of ideas to change the world (even if it's just convincing your readers to paint a room a certain colour or make a certain drink).
• Nurture writers; if you're not spending time building relationships with writers, you're not optimizing your job as editor. Be a writer's editor; "what other kind is there?"

Editing Process

• Editing is very iterative and collaborative. Take a "do no harm" philosophy.
• For your first read:

1. Print it out. Put down the pen.
2. Read as a reader, not an editor. 
3.  What is great about the story?

• If the story isn't working, figure out whether it's a writing problem (which isn't a problem; it's the editor's job to fix that) or a reporting problem. If it's reporting, the writer has to go back and fix it.
• Reread your own assignment letter. Has anything changed on your end?
• If a story seems insurmountable, start thinking radically. Could I cut the whole first half? Could I Rubik's Cube rearrange it? Could the end be the lead? Could the lead be display copy? Is it too long? Could some be a sidebar? Try all this before you start rewriting.
• Break stories into parts to avoid awkward transitions and create narrative tension.
• Consider the visuals as they can help tell the story and set the tone.
• Does the ending leave you satisfied?
• Get a second opinion before killing a story.
• Time vs. Money
• Plan A: Rewrite
• Plan B: Delay
• Plan C: Reformat/repackage
• Plan D: Kill fee

Story Essentials

• The storyteller has to be present to curate and provide context.
• Use cocktail narrative; tell the most interesting part first. Don't tell stories in chronological order. Make sure there is order to the story to avoid readers having to jump back and forth.
• Vary the perspective. Even if it's an in-depth article on a specific topic, provide some macro too; and vice versa.
• Include telling details; not just details for the sake of details.
• Sources—are there enough? Is the story balanced? A one-source story is a red flag.

Line-Editing Checklist

• Are there many short or long sentences? You should typically have a mix.
• Is the story top-heavy with ideas/words?
• Check for overused jargon, dashes, contractions, adjectives, slang.
• Use fresh words/phrases instead of clichés or "potted history".
• Is your verb tense consistent?
• Is there any repetition? Is every sentence necessary?

   -- Colleen Seto

Good Old-Fashioned Editing with Charlene Rooke at the Alberta Magazines Conference

I for one am excited for Charlene Rooke's encore presentation at the upcoming Alberta Magazines Conference. She was kind enough to share her wisdom a few years back, and we're thrilled to have her return. Charlene knows a lot about magazines of course, but she also knows a lot about Alberta magazines specifically. She grew up in Edmonton and spent several years in Calgary editing the U of C's magazine, as well as Avenue. In other words, she "gets" it. I learned alot from her back then, and am keen to learn more in a couple of weeks' time.

So what can you expect from her sessions? Her first is called STET: A Return to Good, Old-Fashioned Editing. I asked her what she considered "good, old-fashioned editing." She tells me, "Good editing puts the reader first and respects the writer's voice. Bad editing is creating an article that is subject to the editor's whims!"

She'll offer practical advice that will help you develop what she considers the most important job of editing: creating "reader-friendly magazines. Do the story, photos, packaging elements, display writing, work together to draw the reader in? Sometimes, as editors, we get too obsessed with an insider's view of what we do." She'll also help you keep your editing reader-focused and you'll walk away with "insider information and advice from both sides of the desk (writer and editor), plus concrete tools and tips for editing long-form journalism, a craft most often learned intuitively rather than taught."

Her second session focuses on keeping your editorial spreads varied and appealing. She'll walk you through "tons of examples and inspiration for different story formats to wake up tired magazine pages."

This will be Charlene's first visit back to Alberta in a while and she "can't wait to see that airplane-window view of the Prairies! Praying for a Chinook..."

You have until March 15 at 4pm to register for Alberta Magazine Conference sessions!
 

--- Colleen Seto
AMPA Blogger-in-Residence