Editing Your MMD Articles
By Robbie Rhodes
Tonight I attempted to edit this Digest to conform with the conventions of American journalism. Thus the first appearance of the Dutch words are set off by the double quotation mark ("), instead of the single quote (') which is the British convention.
My friend, the retired newspaper editor, tells me that it was Mr. Benjamin Franklin, the Colonial statesman and printer, who declared that the comma and period would always be placed before the final quotation mark. This, too, is in contrast with British convention.
Now, after all the work I did, I've concluded that it's probably not worth the time I spent! So don't expect consistent punctuation editing!
However, I _will_ change misspelled words, bad grammer, and awkward sentence construction, and I'll replace ambiguous jargon with easily- understood words and phrases. Forgive me for these editorial liberties, you authors; I am committed to clarity in prose, and I'm convinced that our foreign readers appreciate it.
Unlike restoring an antique car, which demands adherance to originality, editing is like the final work on a _new_ car: the polishing! :-)
Robbie Rhodes, Relief Editor, Mechanical Music Digest
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