SiteFeb28
My Big Writing Mistake (and why I should do it again)
My husband and I recently co-wrote an article for a trade magazine. When I happened to look at the text weeks after we turned in the article, I noticed that one of the subheds read, “Insert snappy subhed here.” And we had turned it in that way! When the article came out, however, the editor had indeed inserted her own snappy subhed. Hmm…could this be a way to get editors to do some of your work? “Insert catchy title here.” “Insert compelling quote here.” “Insert supporting paragraph here.” [lf]
17 Responses to “My Big Writing Mistake (and why I should do it again)”
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piper
Said this on February 28th, 2008 at 7:43am:LOL! I’d be afraid to take the chance. I’ve had (3 different, each a nat’l pub) editors change the spelling of:
1) my name
2) the famous source’s name
3) the photographer’s name
who knows what would happen if I actually *created* an opportunity?
Lisa Bakewell
Said this on February 28th, 2008 at 9:16am:Funny stuff! Nice way to start off the day. Thank you.
Lisa
DianaBurrell
Said this on February 28th, 2008 at 9:34am:I wish they’d do that on my checks: “Insert obscene amount here.”
Kara
Said this on February 28th, 2008 at 10:27am:Just be glad the editor actually inserted a real subhead! I’ve seen magazines actually print stuff like, “Caption here” or “TK.” Who’s proofreading?! Eeek.
Kat
Said this on February 28th, 2008 at 10:40am:I would imagine that it was an overworked and underpaid sub-editor who got to dream up a nice subhead for you. But I would say that this is one of the best ways to annoy an editor, and especially a sub. They’re left with no choice but to think something up, and you might not like what they use!
That’s how I feel when I’m faced with something half-written that I have to make sparkly, only for the writer to take all the credit.
(I sound a bit harsh. Sorry. I’ve spend all morning subbing six word sentences into readable copy and inserting snappy subheads here.)
LindaFormichelli
Said this on February 28th, 2008 at 10:56am:Thanks, guys!
Kat, it was an honest mistake and the editor has hired me again, so I think she wasn’t too annoyed. And I hope it came across that I was joking about doing it again!
Kat
Said this on February 28th, 2008 at 11:12am:For sure! I know it drives my editor mad…I have a colleague who writes stuff and makes up all the ‘facts’ with notes that I need to find this and that out or that this is ‘probably spelt wrong’.
Our writers tend to be photographers or other people who wouldn’t describe themselves as writers.
So I actually think it’s nice that you call this a Big Mistake.
Jennie
Said this on February 28th, 2008 at 8:35pm:How do you know when to add your own subheads–how long does a piece have to be? I’ve turned in short pieces (600-900 words) without any, and the editor usually adds a few. But at the magazine where I have been a freelance proofreader–which is a LOT bigger than the mag I’ve written for–the copy editors routinely put the subheads in themselves, and sometimes the placement of the subheads changes as the piece goes through the editing & layout process. So it really never occurred to me to put them myself. Should I start?
LindaFormichelli
Said this on February 28th, 2008 at 10:41pm:Jennie, I would add them in articles where they seem to make sense. Check out the magazine to see if they regularly include subheds in their articles. Also, don’t worry that they will be changed…I think it’s like titles: The editors almost always change the title, but they still want you to have one, maybe so they can get a sense of where the article is going.
Terreece Clarke
Said this on February 29th, 2008 at 12:32am:I have totally done this before, except it was for the ages of the sources. My editor still likes me too, I just got assigned a boatload of work, we had a good laugh about it, but I was really embarrassed!
Angela
Said this on February 29th, 2008 at 11:57am:That is too funny Linda. I put notes for myself in article drafts all the time, like, “says Dr. Joe Blow, insert title here.” I wake up in the middle of the night worrying I’ve left stuff like that in the final. I think it’s great that you can laugh about it!
Jennie
Said this on February 29th, 2008 at 6:59pm:Thanks, Linda, for your advice.
I recently applied for a grant, and after all the work I did, in the one-sentence statement of purpose, I whited out the word “book,” meaning to replace it with “novel.” About two hours after I mailed it, it suddenly occurred to me: I don’t think I replaced it. There’s just a white spot there.
I console myself that I wasn’t going to get the grant anyway.
Rachel
Said this on March 3rd, 2008 at 3:25am:Thanks for the terrific blog… I’m tentatively moving into freelance territory and I’m finding it very helpful. Here’s a trick I use in my day job as a lawyer — when I need to put a note to myself in the text of a brief, such as “[find a cite for this]”, I highlight the note with a really bright background color, so that my eye can’t miss it when I scan over the text. It’s pretty hard to miss, and it shows up when you print, also.
Writer
Said this on March 3rd, 2008 at 12:58pm:Ha! Except once I did that (necessarily) in an course I wrote for Zale corp. My editor never bothered to read the course, (just claim credit for it). So the buyers flew in for a three day course, and for three days they kept seeing “Insert photo of ring shank here” and “insert photo of chasing tool here.” Hilarious.
LindaFormichelli
Said this on March 3rd, 2008 at 1:02pm:Great stories, everyone! Now I feel not so alone.
Rachel, that’s a very good idea…I’ll have to try that.
HisGirlFriday
Said this on March 4th, 2008 at 9:43pm:very funny
… as a practical aside - instead of using TK which never makes my eyes stop when I read my copy, I use XXXXXX - it stands out more. Say if I’m writing a person’s name but I’m not sure about the spelling, I’ll put “Joe SmithXX” - that way the spellchecker will automatically kick in and remind me to double check it. I do the same thing on other proper titles, figures I’m unsure of, etc.
Erik Deckers
Said this on March 10th, 2008 at 3:58pm:I’ve done something like this, only it was on a press release that was going out to our state’s media. Luckily I caught it in time, before the entire state thought our state health commissioner said “yada yada yada” about a public health emergency.