Course Description

Sure, we’re professionals—but we still encounter points of mechanics or usage that we have to look up every time. Let’s take a deep dive into the concepts that copyeditors often find most tricky, such as restrictive versus nonrestrictive modifiers, parallel structure, and the hottest topic of our day: singular they. This online class emphasizes student participation and interaction, with worksheets, handouts, discussion, and a forum for suggesting topics you want to examine more closely—maybe a stumper of a sentence from a project you recently worked on? Our time together will generate tips and tricks for remembering the rules, which will make us sharper editors and perhaps even save us some precious time.

Instructor Bio

Elizabeth (Liz) Asborno has worked in publishing for more than 30 years as a copyeditor, proofreader, layout artist, graphic designer, typographer, production manager, art director, and print buyer. She copyedits in many genres, including fiction and nonfiction books, journal articles, and educational materials. Liz is an instructor for UC Berkeley Extension’s Professional Sequence in Editing, and (pre-COVID-19) she volunteered with the San Jose Public Library’s Partners in Reading program, tutoring adult learners in reading and writing.

Recommended Texts

The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), print or online version.

Patricia T. O’Conner, Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English, 4th ed. (Riverhead Books, 2019).