Nuances of writing I
Certain subtle aspects of academic/scholarly writing
Principles of abbreviation use
Course details
Suggested timeline: 5–8 months into editing
Total time: Approx. 3 hours
Course description
This course on principles of abbreviation use will cover the following:
- Abbreviations, acronyms, and contractions
- Use and nonuse of periods in abbreviations
- General principles of abbreviation use
- Use of abbreviations in various manuscript elements
- Practical issues in abbreviation use
After taking this course, you will be confident of handling abbreviations in any manuscript.
Article use in the English language
Course details
Suggested timeline: 5–8 months into editing
Total time: Approx. 7½ hours
Course description
Article use in the English language is often a point of concern among non-native speakers of the language. And to put it from the other angle, native speakers often frown—or smile!—at the way non-native speakers use articles in the manuscripts they write/edit. Non-native speakers of the language also tend to insert the definite article the in so many places, which may seem unnatural or unnecessary to a native speaker.
Although there are definite principles of article use, the use of the definite article in particular by native speakers is often considered idiomatic. The role of articles in the English language is to identify the noun. But when the noun in a sentence is readily identifiable (i.e., when an article is not quite necessary to identify the noun), a native speaker may simply omit the article. The almost contrary behaviors of native and non-native speakers add to the charm of the confusion in the minds of the latter!
This course on article use will cover the following:
- The role of articles in the English language and their relation to countable and uncountable nouns
- Some principles of article use and some exceptions (idiomatic expressions)
- Discussion of 30+ examples of sentences indicating the insertion or deletion of articles, use of appropriate articles, and the use or omission of the definite article in "A of B" constructions
Other minutiae: use of italic, quotation marks, and boldface; qualitative and classifying adjectives
Course details
Suggested timeline: 5–8 months into editing
Total time: Approx. 3 hours
Course description
This course covers two unconnected aspects of editing that have one thing in common: they make you think—and sometimes furiously!
The use of italic and quotation marks for words that are not quotations is a point that is often not clear in the minds of many copyeditors. Boldface is seen off and on in many books, particularly textbooks. Having a series of adjectives can sometimes make us wonder whether they require commas between them.
This course on these varied topics will cover the following:
- General principles of using italic and quotation marks
- Situations where the basic principle may be sidestepped
- Use of italic and boldface in textbooks
- Common adjective types and the general order of their use when there are multiple adjectives
- Qualitative and classifying adjectives and the use and nonuse of commas between them
After taking this course, you will be able to
- use typographic improvisations effectively to provide appropriate emphasis to words that require them
- add or delete commas between multiple adjectives confidently
