Some milestones on The Art of Copyediting journey

I had never thought of this as a year-end post. In fact, I'd prepared this as a draft by the end of October. But somehow things happened in such a way that I could fine-tune it as a blog only now—perhaps it was destined to be only a year-end post!

Who is a copyeditor?

The content in the two pictures below (posted in October 2024 by The Art of Copyediting) basically indicates a standard, a goal that is to be kept in mind when we think of copyediting. A good copyeditor has such a great reading habit that he or she can literally read and understand anything at will.

But such a skill set can be developed only gradually, over many years of steady effort.

And I distinctly remember being at both ends of the spectrum.

Although my parents were not educated, they ensured that I had a good convent education, which was not so common in those days. I was a voracious reader, and I read plenty of fiction and nonfiction even during my school days. When I joined college, I gave up both chess and cricket (my favorite games) and became extremely academic. I spent most of my time reading useful books, either in my hostel room or at the Connemara public library (which, in those days, used to receive a copy of every good book published in English anywhere in the world). Despite such a strong reading habit, I faced problems when I enrolled for my research program.

I remember lying down on a hostel terrace and looking at the stars during the initial stages of my PhD (late 1987). My mind was occupied with the same and familiar pattern of thoughts. Every Monday morning, the central table in my institute library was flooded with scientific journals, indicating a small percentage of the phenomenal volume of research going on in the world. And here I was, unable to read and understand a single academic paper. The comparison was stark, and the truth was painful to bear. Tears rolled down, as my ego couldn’t bear this utmost shame. I remember praying to God, with the stars as witness, begging him to help me understand what I was reading as part of my research. It was a long, painful night, my sobs storming the very gates of heaven.

That heartfelt prayer did not go unanswered. The first encouragement came in an unexpected way. I was one of the few research scholars who got married during their PhD program. My wife was also doing her PhD, and she also expressed the same problem. We decided to tackle the issue together: to read and understand a specific review paper that had points of interest for both of us. We read that paper bit by bit over a period of 3–4 days—and I must add that we did almost nothing else over an extended weekend holiday. We were thrilled, because we had, for the first time, understood a scientific paper completely!

That was the starting point. From that day on, I became very conscious of what I was reading and how I was reading. I also read books on how to do research and how to write a PhD thesis. I also spent hours in the University library, poring over 25 theses, and learned how NOT to write a thesis. I read so much relating to my research that colleagues started giving me their poster presentations to check and correct. Almost toward the end of my research, I read a scholarly book from cover to cover. Two things were etched in my mind soon after I completed reading it:

• I felt I had reached a point in my life where I could read and understand anything, as long as it was in the English language.
  • That very moment, I remembered the day when I was looking at the stars and crying, praying to God. I knew now that God had heard and answered my prayer.
  •  I should also confess that I was never good in Tamil (my mother tongue) or Hindi, which was a third language I had chosen to learn in school and college.
• I had planned to present my research results and argue my case in a certain way. But my knowledge of biochemistry in relation to my work was so good that I felt I could argue my case completely in the opposite way, if I wanted to. Whatever knowledge of biochemistry I had at that time made it clear to me that whatever good metabolites were there in the body could be converted to bad ones, and whatever bad ones were there could be converted to good ones. It was just that we did not know the triggers for every case. That was not just a lesson in biochemistry—it was for life as a whole on this planet.

Today, when I look back at what it takes to become (or make someone) a copyeditor, I know it is nothing but the reading habit. Picking up principles of writing and editing are things you add to that reading habit. Today, all these together help me to explain things better to an aspiring editor.

It takes a lot of time and effort to reach the stage of not needing any training. But till one reaches that stage, one requires training and mentoring, which is what The Art of Copyediting strives to provide in various ways.

A person who has reached that stage may still take up training for other reasons. As a wise crack once said: "You must know a lot to understand how little you know." When one understands that, he or she may want to have training in a specific area of interest. Some others may take up training simply to be with others and enjoy the various points of view that come up during discussions. Some may just want to revel in intellectual gymnastics.

The Art of Copyediting: initial attempts

Soon after I started The Art of Copyediting in 2018 (after 22 years in the industry, setting up or establishing departments wherever I worked), I offered a basic course (Essentials of Written English) that aspiring editors could learn online. Over time, I realized that people were not learning as much as they could from the course. I had to even nudge some people to complete the course.

As we all know, the pandemic turned everything topsy-turvy. Total absence from office premises made it convenient for companies to make employees believe that training is simply an individual’s problem. Anything that was difficult—and should ideally have an industry-led solution—was simply thrown out of the window. Corporate copyediting training became history. (Earlier, people were at least talking about it!)

While I added more courses, I felt that meeting people periodically (in addition to their self-paced online learning) would let me help them be on track (and perhaps even clarify their doubts personally). So I mooted the idea of a subscription model, where an editor could pick up one course for learning for a monthly payment. I would also meet them periodically via Zoom to encourage them to learn steadily.

Although the participants and I started this with great enthusiasm, the attempt proved to be a disaster over time.

• Gone were the days when I could meet editors in the office every day, have training whenever we wanted, and nudge them to learn on a daily basis!
• In an online learning mode, with people not having enough self-drive to learn, it seemed that people were taking forever to learn what they could learn in a short time.
• And when people do not learn regularly, they gradually lose interest in the very subject.

But there was another unnoticed issue that compounded the problem in India. The learners' mother tongues were not English. English grammar was taught in schools, but nobody ever took them seriously. People who had a liking for English picked it up on their own, but not necessarily in the right way, and most people did not seem to have a good reading habit. Even those who had a reading habit read books and magazines in their mother tongue. And many who completed their education and went to work did not have to deal with written English communication. But all those who were involved in written English communication had one thing in common: they were all constantly translating things mentally. What this essentially meant was that they were not thinking in English.

When this was the general state of affairs, letting people learn at their own pace and meeting them fortnightly did not bear fruit. But it was learned the hard way.

Lesson learned: Copyediting is a complex process by itself—and it can be sustained only by daily enthusiastic learning.

The Foundational Skills program

I came up with a different plan by mid-2022. I offered a time-bound training and mentoring program by which an editor could learn something indisputably substantial, in a period of 3 months. I called it Foundational Skills for Employability and Earning (FSEE), and I offered four courses for learning in sequence. The idea was that

• I would teach the editors quite a lot in those 3 months (not just principles of writing/editing, but also principles of logical thinking and analyses, logical questioning [in English], ways of finding answers to those questions with the very words in the sentences, etc.]
• the editors would be so awed by what they learn that they would continue to practice what they learned, and
• they would gradually become very strong in their work (as I also promised them feedback support for free, after the program).

This took off very well. I would even say that this has been the most satisfying period of my life, since the founding of The Art of Copyediting. Every editor who completed this training and mentoring program—a few could not—felt absolutely thrilled with what he or she had learned during the 3 months of intense learning.

I also offered shorter 1-month training and mentoring programs for those who could not take the full program. Even these were liked by those who opted for them.

Testimonials poured in. (You can read them here: https://www.theartofcopyediting.com/ri-testimonials.)

I knew we had the best English language training and mentoring program in India.

The Nuances program—and a vital learning

About five of those who had taken the 3-mon FSEE program wanted to take up more courses. So I started a 3-mon Nuances program (comprising another set of courses) for these editors in November 2023. We completed the next level of intensive training, and I continued it free of charge for another 3 months, simply because of the enthusiasm of these editors.

These 6 months were a period of hectic activity. And they were memorable—far beyond anything I can think of.

Although these editors enjoyed the entire period of training, there was one thing that I noticed among all of them. I discussed it with them, and they agreed. It was this: Despite all the new things they had learned, they had still not mastered the ability to analyze sentences the way I had taught them. This, I felt, was the single most important trait for any editor. If only they had mastered that ability, they would have all become completely independent.

That is when I started thinking about the wider circle of editors who had taken the FSEE program. Although I had promised them beyond-the-program support, hardly anyone utilized it fully. Most would send me sentences for 2–3 weeks after the program and then stop. There were also obvious reasons for this:

• In the digital world of today, people are bombarded with too many things every day—it seems to take a lot of effort even to remain sane.
• This invariably throws things out of gear, and these in turn tend to overwhelm people within a week or two.
• In such a scenario, people must have an outstanding internal drive and self-discipline to continue practicing what they learned—which is also not easy to cultivate (more about this below).

I felt that if only I could continue to give them a helping hand for a longer time, focusing only on the ability to master sentence analysis and comprehension, they would have the strongest foundation ever possible for an editor.

In my mind, I knew I had the solution, but I needed time to think through it and find people who may be receptive to it.

English language teaching: A logical approach through 14 functional components

The Art of Copyediting method of training is unique. It teaches 14 functional components of sentences and tells editors how to identify these in any sentence. This literally means connecting every word (or set of words) to every word(s) before and after it. Doing this correctly—and this is not easy—would let the editor recognize clear structural patterns, which in turn indicate specific relationships between the various parts of a sentence. That way, every sentence has a unique signature, which literally confirms the understanding of the sentence by the editor. That way, there is an in-built proof for the editing done on a sentence (or for letting it go without any edit). This analytical ability is the core skill in editing; everything else can be picked up as and when needed.

Think of it:

• Understanding English through just 14 functional components, and
• Confirming the correctness of sentences through structural patterns that indicate specific relationships.

And compare this with learning English using a plethora of grammatical terms (the only other popular method in the world). To me, the two approaches seem poles apart.

My method of training is unknown to the world. I had nurtured it silently for 25 years. My experience with the editors in the FSEE and the Nuances programs made me feel that it is time to publish my method and make it known to the world.

I wrote about it in a blog, which you can read here: https://www.theartofcopyediting.com/blog/english-language-teaching-a-logical-approach-using-14-functional-components.

Community learning beyond the FSEE program—mastering the core skill of an editor

My experience with the five editors in the Nuances program gave me clarity on one point. The kind of handholding necessary required a greater effort on my part, which meant that I could not offer it free if I have to sustain myself. This handholding must also be an integral part of training in India, more so because the mother tongues of the editors are almost always something other than English (and thinking in English is a far cry).

People who take up The Art of Copyediting FSEE program probably have the best theoretical and practical inputs that are possible in a period of 3 months. (Editors have often been awed by how much they learned from the program. You can see it in the many testimonials.) The theoretical knowledge provided is vast, and essential for any type of writing/editing. Application of this knowledge is also taught in every session—we have 24 sessions (over 36 hours of mentoring) in the FSEE program—but the editors have to practice it further to make it completely their own.

The 3-mon FSEE program is intensive enough; the self-practice part need NOT be so intensive, but it must be slow and steady beyond the program.

I felt that weekly sessions that (a) reiterate the concepts learned, (b) provide exercises for daily practice, and (c) keep igniting the reading/comprehension habit will make the editor very strong over a period of 3–6 months, depending on the effort put in. [When I say reading, I do not mean to relate to the innumerable books that people read in a year. If you want to learn editing, "a page digested is better than a volume hurriedly read."] All the participants already have the same basic knowledge, and the goal is the same for every editor. So, group learning would be the best way to handle this.

What this meant was a community of editors who were willing to pay a small amount every month for continued weekly learning—with the specific goal of mastering sentence analysis and comprehension.

But deep in my heart, I knew that one more thing was necessary: a clear sense of purpose.

And this in turn involves quite a few things:

• Nurturing habits, developing daily routines
• Focusing on the process, on the direction we're taking (instead of the goals)
• Learning to be conscious of what we're attempting to do and enjoying the journey even while working toward our goals
• Writing a diary and learning to understand its central place in our lives
• Looking at life in a more holistic way, and understanding the physical, mental (emotional, social, psychic), intellectual, and spiritual needs of a human being

I spoke about this to a few editors who had taken the Nuances program as well as to those who were undergoing the FSEE program. Four editors agreed to join and form the AOC community of learners. A few have expressed a desire to join, and may be joining in the coming months, per their convenience.

We started these community learning sessions on 16 October 2024. These are weekly sessions at 4 pm and 7:30 pm. The late evening batch is for those who are still lucky enough to be working full-time.

We are now more than two months into the community (10 sessions). And we have been

• reviewing what we have learned and recognizing unstated, implied connections between the concepts learned (the entire thing being driven by a Q&A approach)
• trying to get grounded in the reading habit (by loud reading for at least 15 minutes every day)
• working on Exercises, where the editors apply what they have learned (and receive individual feedback)
• learning the essentials of a purposeful life (keeping habits and diary as the base).

We could call this Circle 1: Mastering the core skill of an editor. This is yet another small beginning, but one with great potential, as it seeks to build the foundations of the editorial process in a country where professional standards have still not been understood well enough to take roots.

Over time, we can have groups of people in various circles (stages of learning and mastery):

• Essentials Circle
• Structural Patterns Circle
• Grammar Circle
• Catchwords Circle
• Syntax Circle
• Nuances Circle
• Hyphenation Circle, etc.

Looking ahead: What The Art of Copyediting can do for you

After almost 30 years in the profession, with almost nonstop learning and teaching, I know that traditional classroom teaching and daily physical interactions contribute more to learning copyediting (or anything for that matter) than all the online courses and Zoom meetings we have today. But the Covid pandemic and the digital world of today have ensured that they are things of the past, and we will have to learn (or teach) with whatever is practically possible/feasible.

One good thing about online video lessons is that they transcend the barriers of time and place. Editors can learn at any time from the convenience of their homes. But this has to be constantly honed by regular interactions, which (going by the same logic) can be online. So we combine both independent learning and interactive learning, which is actually a good thing, and works practically well (per my experiences since 2018). This way, the teacher can still nudge the student whenever the learning slackens.

This model will work wonderfully (and can be gratifying to both the teacher and the taught) if the learner has the drive and a sense of purpose. I know that many may not have these, which is why I've made this as part of the post-FSEE community program—so that the editors may have (when they leave the community at any point) that sense of confidence and clarity of purpose to continue growing on their own.

Off and on, editors in India talk about how little they are paid. (Someone even pointed out that this is the most frequently asked question.) But rarely do editors ask themselves what they are capable of doing.

Recently, the topic of low payment came up in one of the ICF WhatsApp groups, and someone responded this way: “The only way to make decent money sitting in India is by catering to developed markets. So there should be courses teaching us how to tap and serve those markets.”

Both those points are true. But some questions remain:

• How many editors in India can read and understand anything—that they can serve these developed markets and earn a decent living?
  • Please remember that all talk about networking, contacts, having a website, etc. will mean nothing if you do not have the skill set.
• The Art of Copyediting can help you serve and tap those markets. But are you willing—are you eager—to learn and grow?

The stated mission of The Art of Copyediting is to help people learn the art of editing. But there are no shortcuts for tapping and serving these developed markets. If you want to tap these markets,

• You must invest some time in learning the skill professionally and apply them while working in the Indian scenario.
• And gradually—over time—you will become confident enough to tap these markets. (You can build your contacts, networking, etc. in the meantime.)

Here's how The Art of Copyediting can help you:

• It provides world-class training in Indian rupees, at affordable prices.
• There is no other organization or institution in India that has such a well-structured approach to providing professional English language training.
• It offers independent learning and guided learning. (Guided learning will yield definite results in the Indian scenario.)
  • For independent learning, it offers combo discounts and package offers.
  • For guided learning, it offers 3-mon and 1-mon programs, with many payment options (including no-cost EMI and low-cost EMI options).
• Above all, it gives group-learning discounts (not offered anywhere in the world).

It’s up to you to take advantage of these offerings and grow in your career. It seems illogical that editors expect to earn 50K–75K–100K EVERY MONTH but do not want to spend that much even once (or over some months) to gain some professional competence that can actually help them get there.

Four groups of people can benefit from The Art of Copyediting programs:

• Graduates and postgraduates coming out of college and wanting to get into writing/editing-related fields
• Copyeditors working in (or for) companies who want to move forward in their career.
• Freelance editors looking for some training
• Editors who have already completed the FSEE program from The Art of Copyediting.

The first three groups can join the FSEE program (at the beginning of every month), and the last group can join The Art of Copyediting Community program any time (just get in touch).

The Art of Copyediting's primary mission is to help you learn editing, and I believe I have already provided so many options for learning. If you feel there could be options that may be helpful to you (that I have not thought of), please feel free to write to me.