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This is the note that I (Mary Klein) sent to our proofeaders in August 2021.
It describes some idiosyncracies of proofreading for Western Friend.
The proofreading "work flow"
- I will send you PDF copies of some pages from the magazine layout.
- Please look for flat-out errors in those pages — spelling, repeated words, punctuation, grammar.
- Please overlook “merely awkward” wording if it’s technically correct, unless you absolutely can’t stand it, or you think it’s just too confusing.
- Please simply compose an email to me that lists all the errors you have found.
- List each error in your message by noting
- Where it is located by page number, column number, paragraph number
- What the error is and/or what the correction should be — easiest is probably just to copy the sentence and say what should be fixed in it.
- Please let me know if you have looked for errors in an article and can find none.
A few “style” notes
- Friend are all over the map about how they punctuate “meeting / Meeting,” etc. I follow the convention used by Friends Journal and FGC that “meeting” is only capitalized when used as part of a proper noun, as one would also capitalize the word “church.”
- The monthly meeting I attend is Palo Alto Monthly Meeting.
- The church my sister attends is St. Joseph Church.
- Friends are also all over the map re: spirit / Spirit, light / Light . . . in these cases, I defer to the author’s preference, though making sure that it’s consistent within the article.
- I am just now making a commitment to be consistent about following the APA style on capitalization of races.
https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/bias-free-language/racial-ethnic-minorities
By this standard, races are proper nouns: the Black race and the White race. However, “brown” is not a race. Which give the apparently inconsistent, but correct sentences: “The neighborhood was home to Black and brown people.” . . . and . . . “The neighborhood was home to Black and White people.” Here’s a pair of examples that might help:
- The neighborhood was home to Black and brown people.
- The neighborhood was home to Black and White people.
- The neighborhood was full of Italian and vegetarian restaurants.
- The neighborhood was full of Italian and Cuban restaurants.
- Other than that, I am loyal to my seventh grade English teacher, Sister Elka, and am old-fashioned in my generous use of commas. If you recommend taking commas out, I might just put them back in, but please make those recommendations anyway. I can indeed go too far, and I like to be checked.
