Jill E Duffy

By request, here’s a follow-up to my previous post on dashes and hyphens. That post covered how to create them; here’s how to use them. — Em Dash — When writing in U.S. English, use an em dash to indicate a break in thought — like this. You can use one or two em dashes in a single sentence, but more than two is overkill. Notice my em dash has a space before and a space after. That’s Associated Press style. Most other style guides—The Chicago Manual of Style and The American Psychological Association Publication Manual, for example—tell you NOT to include those spaces. – En Dash – When writing in British English, use a spaced en dash to indicate a break in thought – like this. When an en dash is used this way, it always gets spaces. Again, you can use one or two – but please not three – per sentence. In the U.S., some style guides, such as Chicago and APA, tell you to use an en dash in ranges and sports scores: The art fair took place August 3–5. Paula will order 10–12 cheesecakes for the party. The Biloxi Shuckers beat the Montgomery Biscuits, 2–0. In these cases, as you can see, there are no spaces around the en dash. Then there’s my favorite use of the en dash🤓 When you have an open compound (e.g., Los Angeles, ice cream, high school), use an en dash to connect it to another word or a prefix: Los Angeles–based office, ice cream–themed decorations, post–high school education. - Hyphen - AP style calls for hyphens where Chicago and APA call for en dashes, as AP doesn’t use en dashes. Also, use a hyphen to join simpler compound modifiers (Sheboygan-based, dog-themed) to connect some prefixes (co-worker, anti-cat, post-workout), and when writing about Spider-Man. Does this cover all possible uses? Of course not. But most people have stopped reading by now.

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What an author sees when they get the copyedit back: the story's timeline laid out neatly in the style sheet, the manuscript comments noting timeline issues, and an editorial letter detailing major inconsistencies and potential solutions (if needed) What an author doesn't see: the chaos, the calendars, the cross-referenced websites, the tears

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What Magazine Editors Really Look for in Writers (Part 2) Deadlines Matter I cannot stress this enough: deadlines are non-negotiable. Not a day late, not the morning after. On or before deadline, please. Some of my assignments require a six-day turnaround. That could involve three interviews, a full draft, fact-checking, time for sources to respond, and final copy submitted on time. It sounds intense, but it’s doable. My writers and I hit that pace regularly. Missing your deadline doesn’t just inconvenience your editor; it sets off a chain reaction. One delay pushes the editor's timeline, which pressures the art director, which can jeopardise the print deadline. A single day might seem minor to you, but on our end, it’s a production crisis. Keep Your Cool (A follow on from the People Skills) No matter how rude or dismissive someone is during an interview, losing your temper is never an option. Writers, like editors, need to maintain professionalism at all times. It’s not uncommon for sources to speak down to you or treat you poorly. It’s frustrating and unfair, yes, but your job isn’t to bite back. If someone crosses the line, escalate it to your editor. A good one will step in and advocate for you. They’ll also know when it’s a real issue, and when you’re simply having a bad day. Either way, let them take that fight, not you. Don’t Take It Personally Seasoned writers don’t flinch when their work is edited. Sure, the best editors will return your draft with clear notes and time to revise, but sometimes, time isn’t on our side. That means changes might be made directly to your copy. If your instinct is to feel insulted or ask, Why would you change my work? You’re not ready. Great writers understand that editing is part of the process. They review the final version, take notes on what shifted, and improve for next time. Clean Copy Is a Gift There’s nothing more refreshing than clean, accurate, well-researched copy. It’s why I often hire editors as writers; they understand what clean copy looks like. That means the draft is fact-checked, free of basic errors, and written in the correct style (AP, CP, Chicago . . . whatever the publication requires). One of my go-to writers recently submitted a 2,000-word feature with only six minor edits. That’s the gold standard. Know the Law This is why I love hiring journalists. They understand media law and never put a publication at risk. Legal issues (defamation, privacy, copyright) are part of your responsibility as a writer. If you want to work professionally, take a media law course. It’s essential training. Editors should understand media law but we also expect you to know the boundaries and write within them. Hope this helps, folks. Yours sincerely, A demanding (but will have your back) editor. #content #writing #editor

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A few years ago, I was checking the links on my writing samples page (a good practice for writers to do periodically) and found that all of the blog posts I’d written for a former client were gone.   Dozens of articles I was proud of—that were the main clips I had demonstrating expertise in a particular industry—just disappeared, overnight. I couldn’t even find them on the Wayback Machine.   I signed up for Authory soon after that.   One of the great things about having a freelance writing business is that it’s relatively easy to keep overhead low. A lot of freelance expenses and tools you see people talk about aren’t *really* necessary. If you want to keep your business lean, it’s pretty easy.   But Authory is the paid tool I find myself recommending to other writers the most.   There are a couple of main benefits I get from it that make the cost worth it: 1.    The most straightforward: it saves all those writing samples.   Over the years, current and former clients will do content audits and updates that involve removing your work from the web (or updating it with someone else's name). It’s inevitable. It happens to all of us, no matter how good your work is. If you don’t have them saved somewhere, you risk losing all evidence of your hard work. 2.    It keeps them looking professional.   Even if you have your work saved in old Word or Google Docs, it just doesn’t look as impressive or professional to share them with prospects in that format. Authory maintains whatever images the piece was originally published with, and keeps the look slick and official. Sharing an Authory link looks a lot better than sending over the same article as a Word attachment.   3.    It makes it easy to search all your old work.   Putting together a list of relevant samples for prospects used to take me *much* longer. I’d have to try and remember what I wrote, or go searching through old folders on my desktop or in Google Drive. With all my work saved in Authory, I can search keywords there and bring up all the articles that touch on a topic. It makes the process of putting together a list of relevant samples much faster and easier.   I’m not being paid by Authory or anything (although I’ll drop my referral link in the comments for anyone considering it), I just genuinely find it to be valuable. I still see writers sometimes bemoaning clips they’ve lost. I know that feeling too well, and want to help others avoid it.  

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Journalists are trained to spot your talking points 👀 and avoid them ❌ It’s drilled into journalists from day one: they aren’t stenographers. They are trained to cut out self-serving, promotional language. The kind designed to impress clients, shareholders, or the marketing team. Poorly written, overly polished talking points? Gone. Pitches that sound like ad copy? Deleted. Press releases packed with fluff? Barely skimmed. Releases aren’t a journalist’s guide to story creation. They are just a starting point. Want better coverage? ✅ Cut the BS. ✅ Ditch the flowery self-promotion. ✅ Stick to relevant facts that actually support the story. Journalists work to inform their audience, not to sell your message. If you align with that, your pitch has a much better shot.

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Experts, I have bad news. As an editor, I regret to inform you: you’ve buried your ‘so what’. Experts writing about their specialisms tend to start with context – the history, the caveats, the background. It’s interesting. It’s accurate. But… so what? You can’t wait until the fifth paragraph to land your ‘so what’. Right away, you need to tell your audience two things: 1. What this is about 2. Why they should be interested Then you can step back into the warm bath of context and background (but not for too long please). The more someone knows about a subject, the harder all this can be. It can feel like dumbing down. But the ‘so what’ isn’t about dumbing down – it’s about getting to the point before your readers stop looking for it. #writing #editing #clarity

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Tip for new journalists: If you have a scoop, do whatever you can to publish the information quickly. That might mean only writing a couple of paragraphs before filing to the editor. Your readers will thank you, because they will see what's important quickly and your editors will thank you because they will only need to look over a short amount of text before publishing. The context, background, other details can go out in an update. No need to publish everything all at once in this case.

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If you’re still in journalism and don’t have a safe exit you are completely deluded. Now is the time to figure out multiple streams of income even if it’s moonlighting in PR. Your bosses could give two shits about retaining you and if your entire job is solely writing then you’re even worse off than you think.

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Don't let anyone convince you that editing is dead. 🪦 GenAI tools can help with formatting citations or initial drafts. But they can't ask the hard questions your writing needs: Is this clear? Could it be misread? Does your voice sound authentic? Those are the questions that separate okay writing from writing that persuades. If you care about whether your policy papers influence policymakers, your marketing resonates with customers, or your communications land with stakeholders—you need a human editor. Full stop. Check out my full conversation with WordRake on why quality editing is a business imperative, not a nice-to-have: https://lnkd.in/eAiDcpzE #BusinessCommunications #EditingMatters #WritingQuality #Leadership

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Free quick writing tip: Often, sentences that begin with, “As” become stronger if you eliminate “as” and start with the next word. Examples: “As I turned the corner, I saw my former boss, but he didn’t recognize me.” VS. “I turned the corner and saw my former boss, but he didn’t recognize me.” Here’s another one… “As I scanned the horizon, looking for an answer, I saw no other way.” VS. “I scanned the horizon, looking for an answer. I saw no other way.” Why use more words than you need? Check your sentences beginning with “As…” and see if a little extra magic emerges if you delete that little two-letter word.

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Back in June, I started a Substack about working on both sides of the publishing industry: writer and in-house professional. My latest topic? Other ways to work in publishing when the search feels hopeless. Especially in today's volatile job market, I hope some of these ideas help! Read it here: https://lnkd.in/eWtg6hbS

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