Are there any editors/proofreaders on here - panicking about my new job

[pinkorangee]

I have recently started a new job as an editor, and I'm finding it hugely overwhelming. I have worked as an editorial assistant and a copywriter before, so it's not exactly new territory to me. However, I am finding it overwhelming seeing the amount of rules there are. I admit that previously I just worked based on instinct of what sounds/looks correct as well as what our internal guidelines would say and that would always serve me well. However, my new job has really, really detailed and thorough guidelines. I can't imagine how I will go through and edit a piece of work, as I feel like I'll need to consult the guidelines for literally every word or phrase as I go. I don't have a degree in English, my background is in the niche area that we work in, which is common for the editors in my field as we need to be able to understand the subject matter.

Does anyone have any advice? Is this something I will be able to pick up quickly, or am I in too deep?

(Also please don't judge me for any mistakes on this post, I'm just quickly posting this on my lunch break).

A degree in English isn't going to be the remotest help with grammar and style guide stuff, anyway, unless your new job uses Chicago or Harvard or one of the stylesheets commonly used by university English departments.

Surely you'll just pick it up with practice? You have the knowledge needed for the subject matter, you'll just learn the style stuff via osmosis. And yes, by looking everything up initially.

"instinct of what sounds/looks correct" won't cut it, I'm afraid.

I think it's great that your new employer has such a detailed style guide; not all of them do. So yes, you will have to look everything up, particularly at first.

But it'll soon become second nature to you, especially if most of the documents follow the same format.

Top tip if you don't already do this: make checklists your friend. If all documents follow the same style guide, then as you edit/proofread the next one (I'm assuming you are aware of the differences between the two?) make a list as you go of the things you need to check/things that you change.

So it'll be something like:
Title - Arial 12 bold title case
Headings - Arial 11 bold sentence case
Sub headings Arial 10 not bold sentence case

And so on.

It saves so much head space and time having a checklist.

Look at Publiishing Training Centre and CIEP for resources.

What kind of rules? Is it things like Mumsnet must be capitalised and The Donald must be referred to as President Trump rather than just Trump? I would expect those would be pretty quick to memorise, however many of them. If the rules are more vague things about what kind of “tone of voice” they like, that may take longer to get a feel for what they expect - and for the extent to which those rules are actually followed.
Either way, take it slowly, go through the rules, make some notes and refer back as much as you need to. It’s ok to be a bit slow at first; you’ll get there.

However, my new job has really, really detailed and thorough guidelines. I can't imagine how I will go through and edit a piece of work, as I feel like I'll need to consult the guidelines for literally every word or phrase as I go.

I'm a former editor and that's exactly what you should be doing in the first few weeks of a new job. You need to forensically edit and double- and triple-check every piece according to the guidelines – then one day, without you even realising, it will just click and you'll know it all instinctively. It will be a slog at first but absolutely worth the effort.

As others have said, yes, you will have to consult the guidelines constantly at first but gradually as bits sink in, you'll be doing it less and less.
It will become clear with time if all the guidelines need to be followed all the time, but as you are new, I'd aim to follow everything until you are more settled.
Are you worried you are taking too long or are you thinking this is not something you want to be doing?

Read, read as many pieces at you can that your organisation has published previously, it'll give you a feel for the style and voice. You will also need to use the style guide more initially, but that will reduce as it becomes second nature.

To make it less overwhelming to start with, I'd go through the guidelines and think 'would I do that automatically'? I'll bet for a fair few of them you would and so this isn't essential for you on the first proof, they can just be a final check at the end.

I'd then look at what is left and divide them into 'things that seem to go against what I already know or that would require a fair amount of rewriting.i.e those that are more than this must be capitalised but would require an overhaul of tone, style or structure..

I'd make my own checklist of these as suggested above and use it as step one.

Then I'd have then the things that can be picked up on a scan (ctrl f) through the document e.g it must always be University of Birmingham and not Birmingham University or million must be capital M type things.

Make the guidelines work better for you because it's impossible to absorb it all at once.

All you can do is learn the style guide and then keep going OP…. There will definitely be a style guide, either a house one or Chicago etc.

Yup, you need to read the guidelines completely. As a rule, as you're going through it, quite a few things will be things that are how you would do them anyway. Others will be things that on first reading you'll be able to remember or, at worst, might quickly cross check a few times until it's in your head forever. And a few you might have to check.

Most guides of this sort will be organised into sections or categories so that's also helpful as you'll have those broad categories on your head at all times and then as you're reviewing the work, you can go back and cross check if you realise it falls into that category.

Look out for the oxford comma in particular - it's very divisive! and if it's in the guide as a yes/no thing, woe betide if you ever use it incorrectly (for the record, I am PRO the Oxford comma!)

Congratulations on your new job! Sounds like your new employer has a more structured way of doing things. Think of style guidelines as your friend, so you don’t have umm and aah over every little thing. People have a common source they can refer to. That can make it easier in the long run.

Like others have said, read the guidelines and highlight anything that’s different from how you’d do it yourself. There might not be many things. Focus on these first of all.

The most obvious things are S vs Z spellings, single vs double quotes, and bullet lists (punctuation and capitals/lower case).

It’s a steep learning curve at first but it will get easier!