editing
edits I received:
HURRICANE IRMA AND MARIA: When we built the ladder for the 2018 Legend, we decided we should dedicate a spread to the hurricane that cancelled more than a week of school. As it was the first content deadline, we were still working on our style for the book, which ended up completely changing. This spread originally held three stories. Staffer L'Wren Johnson and I found it a challenge to include students on this spread, as many of them did not suffer from devastating effects of the hurricanes. The majority of edits on this spread pertained to the content of the stories and strengthening the transitions, since those were rather weak. Our implementation of AP style also needed work. After completing the editing process, this spread transformed to hold one story and a variety of images from our community, rather than the Tribune News Service. (Published 2018 Legend)
THE SEARCH FOR THE PIG IS ON: I found this spread to be particularly challenging. The edits for this spread are at majors, our second round of editing. I was feeling rather disheartened with this many edits. We were still figuring out how to tie the thematic elements into our modular elements and folio. Throughout the editing process, the content on this spread was developed and refined. Minor design changes occurred, and major copy edits strengthened the story and boosted readability. (Published 2018 Legend)
edits I gave:
GUARDIANS OF THE GATE: Deciding what to write on this spread was rather difficult. I needed to write a large number of edits, but I did not want it to come off as discouraging. This piece illustrated issues with spelling errors, to-be verbs and incoherent transitions. Through the editing process, Catherine and I were able to correct many of the inaccuracies and create a more specific and impactful story. (To be published 2019 Legend)
BOYS BREAK RECORD: The staffer who worked on this spread had a vision of using the dominant image as a full-page background. After many discussions, the Editors-in-Chief and I helped guide her away from that, as it would not match the style of other sports spreads. The body copy and the profile for this spread seemed like the same story. The story focused on a boys relay that broke the school record and the profile told the story of the relay by one of the boys. The staffer also edited the photo to make it less blue, but the edits she made did not result in a natural look. The edits I gave her yielded a more thematically cohesive spread with less redundancy. (To be published 2019 Legend)
INJURIES SHAKE UP TEAM DYNAMIC: This spread was staffer Catherine McCarthy's first spread, so naturally it required some edits. She did a great job of writing body copy, which required few edits. The captions on the spread sounded similar, and all of the statistics read the same. She utilized a lot of to-be verbs, creating passive voice in her body copy and captions. My edits helped Catherine refine her work, so it followed AP and our publication's style. (To be published 2019 Legend)
editing process:
For our spreads, we go through a series of editors to ensure that when the spread is proofed and shipped, it is of high quality. Spreads go through a section editor, one editor-in-chief, the other editor-in-chief, the index editor and our adviser. This cycle occurs twice to correct any errors that occurred. Below is the traditions spread, If You Know, You Know, in the 2019 Legend. book. As seen on the spread, when an editor writes edits on the page, the staffer working on the page highlights them after they corrected the issues. Throughout the editing process of this spread, a few major changes occurred: the background graphic was replaced, the headline package was edited to better follow our style, and a photo cluster was swapped for a quote box. These changes illustrate how the editing of a spread creates a more impactful and coherent spread.