A Gentle Plea to CC - Consistency in Editing

[PaulMaplesden]

I, and I am sure, all of the other writers here really appreciate the work that the editors do - I know it must be challenging dealing with such a wide range of styles. As someone that owns an editing business (my wife is our chief editor), I know that it's important to maintain a high level of quality.

Recently though, I have found that grammatical choices that I have made that are accepted by the majority of CC editors are getting rejected when a particular editor (or editors) review them, and this is making it more difficult as a writer to know what approach to take.

A couple of examples:

I use bullet points extensively in my articles, and as such do not normally have a final period at the end of the bullet point (I do include exclamation points, question marks or other punctuation.) I have never had an issue with this before, on CC or elsewhere, but recently have had a few articles rejected for not having a period at the end of bullet points. Can we get some clarification on if this is a formal CC requirement?

In a longer article, I often have an introduction and then a list of the key points that I am going to discuss in the article, for example:

'Here's a quick explanation of the key areas in Google+ and how they facilitate conversations:

- Google+ Circles
- Your Profile
- Google+ Home Stream
- Google+ Communities
- Google+ Notifications
- Mentioning People in Google+

We'll cover each of these in more detail below before talking about sending private messages in Google+.'

I will then go into each section in detail.

Previously, editors on CC have been happy with this approach, but recently I have had a couple of rejections requesting I not do this. As I believe this adds clarity for the reader, and makes an article easier to digest, I would prefer to retain this approach, but again am seeking feedback from CC.

Ultimately, I want to reduce the amount of work that CC editors have to do and also reduce my own rejection rate, so having a consistent set of guidelines for things like this would be extremely useful.

Thanks,

Paul.

[ReneeF]

Welcome to CC. I have one editor or two who adhere strictly to guidelines on owly and do not allow any second person vernacular or the following words: this, that, those... etc at the beginning of sentences and who take the CC guidelines to a whole new and very tight level. All personality is stripped from the articles as this makes them "wordy" sicne i can never guarantee which editor i am going to get, I simply make all my content adhere to every rule which editors have rejected my work and sent links explaining their opinion.


What I do is make sure all my work gets past the toughest editor, no mater how insane I feel the rules are or how crazy it makes me to edit them to their standards.

I'd love to be more concise and follow up sentances with "this blah Blah Blah" where This refers to the topic in the previous sentences. and I'd really love to use the word YOU simply because the work around feels clunky and wordy. "The person Blablahblah" feels awkward in my mouth.

they are the VIP's and we must adhere to their choices in style. They have an even tougher job than we.

[Lysis]

This is probably the most difficult part of the learning curve here.

And I say "this" and the "thises" are something I have to watch closely too.

[ReneeF]

This is probably the most difficult part of the learning curve here.

And I say "this" and the "thises" are something I have to watch closely too.

me too, i get rejections all the time for sentance topics using "this, these, those, etc" ugh...

[Abbamay]

I think the editors do a great job too. However I am still concerned for you, ReneeF, if there hasn't been a reply or a solution to the problem about you getting rejections for the word "you". You're right - everyone uses it, and I hope that they will let you do it too once they read your message, as it just doesn't seem fair.

Abba

[ReneeF]

I think the editors do a great job too. However I am still concerned for you, ReneeF, if there hasn't been a reply or a solution to the problem about you getting rejections for the word "you". You're right - everyone uses it, and I hope that they will let you do it too once they read your message, as it just doesn't seem fair.

Abba

No response.

This isnt the first time I've sent in a help ticket and not been responded to. of about ten tickets I've submitted, only one ticket was responded to in the history of my time here.

[tayalltheway]

I don't know that I've ever heard of anyone getting a reply from the support email address to be honest. It never hurts to try sending it again, though, just in case it catches someone's eye.

[ReneeF]

I don't know that I've ever heard of anyone getting a reply from the support email address to be honest. It never hurts to try sending it again, though, just in case it catches someone's eye.

I've had them respond only once and it was something else major. I had a question about removing all my content to comply with the editors requests and resubmitting it, or jsut fixin the errors. This was after everything be up and published and then having the editor complain. .

[freelanceprowriter]

I've noticed more inconsistency lately with the editing, as well. I can write several articles that are similar in tone and structure and one will be rejected, while the others are accepted. In some cases, it seemed more like a personal like or dislike was being applied. That being said, I've learned to keep my sentences short, eliminate most of my commas and do a search for "this" or "that" to replace those words before I submit anything. It does remove some of the personality, but then again, the articles sell well, so I guess the customers like it!

[ReneeF]

I've noticed more inconcistency lately with the editing, as well. I can write several articles that are similar in tone and structure and one will be rejected, while the others are accepted. In some cases, it seemed more like a personal like or dislike was being applied. That being said, I've learned to keep my sentences short, eliminate most of my commas and do a search for "this" or "that" to replace those words before I submit anything. It does remove some of the personality, but then again, the articles sell well, so I guess the customers like it!

That is about the gist of how I edit too. One in ten will get rejected for "wordiness" and I just go delete sentences the editor has a problem with.

[Lysis]

Once you get a feel for what they are looking for, it gets easier.

Avoid a lot of "this" or "that."
Keep sentences short and avoid wordy ones (this is my major problem usually)
Watch comma placement (this is another one of my big problems... I don't always understand why a comma shouldn't be between two independent clauses but sometimes they tell me to remove them)

[MelissaNott]

Hi all! I'm prowling around here after a long hiatus from CC, trying to figure out what has changed. So let me get this straight: The words "this," "that," "those," and "you" have fallen out of favor? I can sort of understand the first three, but avoiding "you" doesn't make sense. Can't we address the reader as "you" in a way that teaches/advises/educates, etc.? If not "you," what words do we use to address the reader?

[PaulMaplesden]

Hi all! I'm prowling around here after a long hiatus from CC, trying to figure out what has changed. So let me get this straight: The words "this," "that," "those," and "you" have fallen out of favor? I can sort of understand the first three, but avoiding "you" doesn't make sense. Can't we address the reader as "you" in a way that teaches/advises/educates, etc.? If not "you," what words do we use to address the reader?

It's only one of our writers, Reneef, that gets into trouble for using 'You' (for reasons that none of us can understand!) - I and many other writers use it without an issue. In fact, it's the most popular word used in article titles.