From the Copyeditor’s Desk: How to Break the Rules

by Beth Blachman

I suspect that no one really likes copyeditors. We put the ugh in doughnut (and even manage to get into heated kerfuffles over whether it’s copy editor or copyeditor). Sometimes I even annoy myself, like just now when I felt the need to look up kerfuffle in Merriam Webster. Or when I lie awake worrying that my edits might be quashing an author’s voice. And I also triple check that I’m right about lying awake and not laying awake. Despite the fact that we may sound ridiculous with our heated tirades about the importance (or repugnance) of the serial comma and our pedantic obsessions with fact checking whether the protagonist really could have made it from the airport to the house by dinnertime, I do think what we mostly want is for authors’ artistry to be presented to the reader with clarity. We quibble because we care. Whether you work with a publishing house or self-publish your book, here are some tips that may help you out as you navigate the terrain of bursting through the doors of the Chicago Manual of Style. (But isn’t that a bit of a mixed metaphor? Let’s make that “bursting through the bindings” instead. Or busting, if that feels more free to you.)

Have a reason for rule breaking that you could say out loud. 

As an editor, the “I know it when I see it” rule applies here. I think a reader can sense when an author is making a serious artistic statement and when rule breaking is extraneous. Ask yourself why you’re breaking a grammar rule. Some reasons might sound like this: These grammar choices are the best way to convey my character’s voice. I don’t want to use quotation marks because I want the reader to be deeply embedded in my character’s mind. I simply love commas before “too” because they are beautiful to me.

Be consistent.

Did you choose run-on sentences in moments of tension to quicken the pace and convey a character’s state of mind? Make sure to use run-on sentences in all such moments (and not in any others, if that’s your choice). If eschewing the serial comma is a decision you want to make, when you send your final draft to an agent or an editor, make sure you didn’t break your own rule. This will show industry pros (and later, readers!) that you are serious and have a cohesive logic. 

Create an internal rule system.

If you decide to, for instance, skip quotation marks altogether, figure out what you want to do to indicate dialogue. You might use italics, or you might decide to leave everything in Roman type but treat the surrounding punctuation as if there were quotation marks there. (I’m so lonely, he said.) Whatever your choices, as you approach your later drafts, know what they are.

Read for clarity.

If you made a grammar choice that isn’t supported by the style guides, it’s a good idea to have a few readers look over your manuscript with fresh eyes to look for clarity issues you are too immersed in the draft to have noticed. Here’s one: I’m so lonely, he said, and he laughed at me. If you’ve chosen not to use quotations marks, it might be obvious to you that “and he laughed at me” is part of what your character is trying to say out loud, but some of your readers might think you mean this: “I’m so lonely,” he said, and he laughed at me. Grammar rules happen for a reason, and as you break them, you may need to make adjustments to add clarity. 

Beth Blachman is a freelance writer and editor who has worked in journalism, education, and as the editor-in-chief of SLICE literary magazine. She is a co-founder of the Pub Pros.