copyediting Archives - Ann Handley

How to Turn Editing Into the Best Part of Writing

A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * Long before I wrote books and your favorite newsletter 😊, I wrote for a financial newspaper about Federal Reserve regs and housing prices. A high point of my career there was a headline I wrote for a story about NACHA (the National Automated Clearing House Association, a US electronic payment regulatory system). The headline: “NACHA Business.” My pun game was strong even then. The headline. I loved it. The editor did not. (Still salty about it TBH.) * * * Eventually I went on to work for the Boston Globe, among other pubs. And while I left journalism a long time ago, writing for newspapers gifted me the biggest lesson of my career. The lesson: No one is […]

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Relax and Open Wide: Dentist vs. Doctor

Sometimes when I’m bored and have neglected to tote some reading material—like when I’m standing in line at the supermarket, or waiting for a movie to begin—I indulge in a debate I have with myself: Which do I dislike more: a visit to the dentist, or a visit to the gynecologist? Both require me to grant access to the dark and private parts of my body that I’d rather keep classified—at least, to all but a privileged few. You might think that men can’t grok that dilemma, but my friend David suggests that the equivalent procedure for men would be a prostate exam. I’ve never had one, but—although I don’t like to—I can imagine. I admit that I don’t like the physical exposure, the act of opening wide for strangers. Intellectually, I know there’s nothing truly intimate going on. But, still, it feels weird. What’s more: I dread the way