Error, error, where are you hiding?

Instead of editing for error, try editing for probability of error. This is the second of our three tenets for Eagle Eye copyediting training. (The first was “brain off” and the third is “professional restraint.”)

We call this second tenet “hot zone” editing.

Where errors tend to lurk

Eagle Eyes in our 25-hour training program (spread over two months) learn to look for hot zones. These are writing situations where errors tend to fall in.

When editing your own work, you can get by not knowing or ignoring certain types of grammar, usage, punctuation and style rules. That’s because you can re-write to avoid a problem, or because you don’t have a particular problem – like which/that or misplaced modifiers -- in the first place.

For example, I usually avoid “lay/lie” on deadline because it makes me nervous and I don’t want to look it up. I also rewrite to prevent awkward-looking punctuation combinations.

When re-writing is a worse response

But when editing the work of others, you don’t get to re-write, especially when proofreading a document that has already made it through an approval process that includes the legal department, a product manager and a marketing vice president.

Good editors know how to find and surgically fix errors that normally wouldn’t crop up in their own work.

Here’s a sample of items from our hot zone list:

1. Hone (when it should be home)
2. Between (when it should be among)
3. Product names (gotta get them exactly right in every reference, but account teams tend to stop looking at them in a document because they’re overly familiar with them)
4. Introductory clauses (that may harbors misplaced modifiers)
5. Each of ______s (each is singular, even if what follows the “of” isn’t)
6. Comprised of (no such phrase; we recommend changing to “composed of”)
7. Appositives (often the second comma is left off)
8. It’s/its (even people who understand the rule still make the mistake)
9. VIPs and other plural acronyms (no apostrophe)
10. No “Mr.” in AP style

How to get sensitized

Trainees do exercises that sensitize them to these words and situations, kind of like Pavlov’s dog, minus the saliva. When EEs see these words, a little bell should go off in their head, reminding them that it might look fine on a fast first read, but there might be a hard-to-find error embedded there.

At first, they go over documents with a highlighter, marking hot zones without asking themselves whether the usage is correct. Then they use the highlighter on a first pass, and edit on a second pass. In time, they don’t need the highlighter.

As I explained in a previous post, our brains are wired such that we are all inherently bad proofreaders. So we have to learn to “turn off” our brains and scan for probability of error, not actual error.

More on the third tenet in a future post.

Magic unveiled: To edit well, turn off brain

Executive Summary:

Impeccable copyediting on deadline -- without the excessive re-writing that dilutes ROI -- sounds like an impossible dream.

But our agency's unusual training program turns PR account executives into elite 9-1-1 copyediters. Eagle Eyes find mistakes that other conscientious proofreaders don't know about or miss. They bring impeccability to documents on deadline.

Key Points:

1. Instead of learning proofreading and grammar, Eagle Eyes learn the "brain off" and "hot zone" techniques, which attack root causes of errors.
2. Training includes "muscle memory" exercises in which trainees learn to enter the right mindset on demand.

Sound bite:

"Our brain is designed to keep us from seeing things as they really are. It 'fixes' what's wrong so that we can smoothly absorb the gist without getting hung up on glitches."

*****

Read the whole article:

The sneaky, brilliant details underlying the success of our "Eagle Eye" training program for copyeditors is that I don't teach style, grammar, usage and punctuation. You can get that from a book or in school. In Eagle Eye training, recruits study most of that on their own time in addition to what I teach in class.

Best practice: Short-circuit root causes

To develop the program, I homed in on the root causes of proofreading errors and found techniques for short-circuiting them. Then I distilled principles to show good writers how to develop the professional restraint needed to correct errors by others without re-writing. (If you've seen my other blog posts, you know that I consider re-writing the eighth deadly sin.)

I call this special brand of magic the "brain off" and "hot zone" techniques. I'll describe one now and save the other for a later post.

"Turn my brain off? Where's the switch?"

Notice that you can understand what's below even though it's rife with errors.

To keeep up wth th wolrd and the ecnomy, innoavtion ins't enoguh; creatviity is aslo rquired, he says. "Innovtaion is suvrival in the prceivd wrold--maikng somtheing new in the exstng sistym. To be creativ is to thnik abuot a neew systim," said Luc de Brabandere, athuor of "The Forgtten Half of Chnage: Acheeving Graeter Craetviity Thourgh Cheanges in Percption" (Dearborn Trade Pubilshnig, May 2005). Anti-lock breaks stem from inovation. The comptr muose and Stabruck's and Coka-Cola's use of ther bradns to get into muzik sales come from creativity.

Now have a look at this link. It's about Betty Edwards' "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain." In Eagle Eye class, I ask trainees questions about pictures from this book.

My point: Our brain is designed to keep us from seeing things as they really are. It "fixes" what's wrong so that we can smoothly absorb the gist without getting hung up on glitches.

It's not your fault; DNA conspires against you

This means we are born to be really bad proofreaders. It's genetic. We can't help it. All of us are bad.

To counter this, we need to find our brain's "off" switch and commandeer it.

In the first couple weeks of Eagle Eye classes (twice a week, an hour each time), I give trainees exercises that teach them to "turn their brain off" so that they can see things as they really are. Visual artists do this all the time. Proofreaders must do it, too, but most people don't know that.

Sit-ups, push-ups for "brain off" decathletes

The exercises include reading things backward and circling subsets of letters in paragraphs of gibberish. Immediately on the first day, trainees feel the sensation. It's a lot like driving on autopilot -- you know, where you zone out and don't remember the last couple of miles. Through practice, trainees learn to commandeer the on/off switch and keep it off even though it keeps trying to pop back on again.

There's more, but we'll save it for another post.

Become an Eagle Eye fan

The next training session begins July 22. Check out our Facebook fan page to find out what some of the veterans are telling the new recruits.

Calling all Eagle Eyes! Got advice and encouragement for new recruits?

We're recruiting our next batch of Eagle Eyes, a team of internal agency copyeditors who can be counted on for impeccable editing on deadline. Eagle Eyes catch mistakes others miss.

Veteran EEs out there, we'd love to hear from you on our Facebook fan page. Got advice or encouragement for the new recruits?

1. What do you wish you'd known from the start?
2. How is the program different from what you initially expected?
3. How has EE experience altered your career path or relationships with team members?
4. What surprised you?
5. What's the biggest misconception about Eagle Eyes?
6. What was more fun than you thought it would be? What was harder?
7. What else is on your mind?

Please chime in and share your thoughts! http://bit.ly/9SovXj