‘Editing,’ the new comprehensive handbook, is an all-encompassing tool every writer needs

At the outset, you may have difficulty, as I did, deciding whether “Editing: The essential guide to better writing across today’s media,” is best suited for writers seeking to improve their skills or for editors wanting to sharpen theirs.

 

Fret not. Early in their new book — on page 7, actually, where you’ll find the first of hundreds of applicable gems for anyone who works with words — authors Buck Ryan and Michael O’Donnell provide the key: Writing + Editing = Writing.

 

It’s a truth writers constantly need reminded of. But it’s also a formula for success and a practice, a muscle that any writer — and every editor — benefits from being able to flex. Writing is a process, not an act. In addressing that “core principle” of editing, Ryan and O’Donnell teach writers and editors the art and practicalities of assessing and evaluating “every angle, word, transition, paragraph or piece of punctuation.”

 

The titular “Essential” is one word to describe the guide that Ryan and O’Donnell, former Chicago Tribune and Medill School of Journalism colleagues who’ve previously collaborated on writing and language skills books, have assembled. My own edit would have added “comprehensive.” The scope of this work is as impressive (full of high-level application) as it is all-encompassing. As a journalist who has shelves full of books about writing, “Editing,” in a way, is a one-stop-shop that supersedes my voluminous assemblage of guides and stylebooks. It provides not just a valuable reference tool for writers, but delivers, in a single volume, the essential goods it promises — and in an orderly, easily-searchable way.

 

This guide delivers a logical and supremely useful set of tools that accomplishes two things: first, as a textbook, it’s a masterclass, a sort of compendium of lessons a news reporter would be taught by the best and wisest journalism professors in an advanced journalism degree program — plus an array of knowledge any reporter or editor would get from on-the-job mentor editors. Second, it’s an indispensable reference manual. It not only incorporates what it means, and what it looks like, to be a good writer and editor, but riffs on the elements of that work, including meaningful sections on style, spelling, grammar, punctuation and usage that even someone (I’m thinking of myself here) who’s been editing for 40 years needs reminded of.

 

As a reference manual, I’ve never seen its equal; it’s difficult to imagine there’s a better single book that provides so much usefulness to a writer. “Editing” includes two main sections: the first focuses on editing’s core principles and application, the second on editing news on deadline. The opening section’s 100-plus subsections address the elements (along with how-to’s, both practical and philosophical) that make up great writing and reporting. The strength and value of the second section’s elements is application. If the opening section could be considered classical instruction — picture it as a Matrix-like injection of writing skills — the latter is the aforementioned masterclass on shaping, structure, presentation and delivery.

 

And can I add that it’s also just a great read, and fun, too? (O’Donnell’s “The Five Writers You Don’t Want to Meet in Heaven” is just pure gold.) The conversational tone makes for lots of joy. (Just for fun, I picked up “Elements of Style,” which has been a part of my library since 1982, while reviewing this book; “Editing” is a symphony by comparison.)

 

The book’s dozens of extras — including “homework” sections and real-life examples (full disclosure: I’m one of the editors interviewed for, and cited, in the book) from people in the industry — help reinforce its lessons. And the 129-page “Language Skills Survival Kit” includes five appendices (tackling grammar, punctuation and a helpful “fixtionary,” along with an also-helpful list of commonly misspelled words and a glossary) round out the work perfectly.

 

I can’t imagine a serious writer or editor, or a newsroom, without this book.