by Lori Hatcher @LoriHatcher2
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| Welcome to the Editor's Desk. |
Welcome to The Editor’s Desk—A
No-nonsense Approach to Non-fiction. On the last Friday of every month, I
look forward to sharing some nuts and bolts about non-fiction writing. This
month’s post is the first in a series called “How to Drive an Editor Crazy.” I
write from the perspective of a print magazine editor, but whatever your target
publication, the tips I share will help you submit polished, professional work
so you DON’T drive your editor crazy.
How to Drive an
Editor Crazy
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| To drive an editor crazy, paraphrase Bible verses. |
Paraphrase Bible verses.
This is true
confession time, friends. A book editor once threatened me with death and
dismemberment when she double-checked the Scripture references in one of my
devotional books and discovered I’d used the LHV (Lori Hatcher Version) of the
Bible. Because I’d depended on my
memory, which was a mishmash of the King James, New International, and Holman
Christian Study versions, there was no way she could check my Scripture references
for accuracy in punctuation and quotation. My carelessness and laziness caused
her hours of extra work and slowed down the editing process considerably.
After a humiliating
time of confession, repentance, and restitution (I sent her Trader Joe’s Chocolate
Covered Almonds with Sea Salt and Caramel Cashew cookies by overnight mail), I had
learned a valuable lesson. When quoting Scripture, choose a translation, then
copy and paste EVERY Bible verse, with its appropriate reference, from your
Bible software into your article. Even if it’s John 3:16, don’t rely on your
memory.
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| To drive an editor crazy, lowercase the word Bible. |
Lowercase the word Bible.
I’m always a tiny bit
shocked when a writer fails to capitalize the B in Bible. Whether you revere or believe in the Bible is not the
issue that determines this rule. All style manuals require a writer to
capitalize any holy book, whether you’re citing the Qur’an, the Talmud, or the
Bible. You should also capitalize common epithets for the Bible such as the Word and Scripture, but not adjectives indicating the Bible, like biblical or scriptural.
There are many rules governing the correct way to quote Scripture,
capitalize books and parts of the Bible, and handle religious terminology. The Christian Writer’s Manual of Style
is my go-to resource to keep it straight. It’s helpful, user-friendly, and
relatively inexpensive. Whatever resource you choose, remember—NEVER quote a
Bible verse from memory or fail to capitalize the Bible. If you do, you’ll
drive your editor crazy.
Don't forget to join the conversation!
TWEETABLES
Great info, Lori. Can't tell you how many times I've edited books for authors who used their own mish-mash of Scripture. It takes a lot of extra time to check ... and correct ... those Scriptures.
ReplyDeleteRest assured, Andrea, if you ever get a hold of one of my manuscripts, you WON'T have to correct the Scripture references. That was a painful lesson, but one well-learned :)
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