Nearly a year before I began studying to become an editor , I was aware of the debate between prescriptivism and descriptivism . My roommate Beka had already decided that she loved language and wanted to be an editor , and when she would come home bursting with excitement about the things she had learned in her editing and linguistic classes , and I was the one there to hear about it . These conversations piqued my interest in peculiarities like serial commas , phrasal verbs , usage , and prescriptivism versus descriptivism . With a new interest in a subject I had never given much thought to , I declared an editing minor and started out on my own path to become an editor . However , I had never really taken a stance in the debate between prescriptivism and descriptivism because I didn ’ t have enough information or experience to make a decision . My initial thought always placed me on the side of prescriptivism , but then I would find myself leaning toward a descriptivist approach in some situations , making me unsure of my own opinion . Armed with the knowledge that I have gained in my editing classes and experiences , I can now state my position : I am a descriptivist as well as a prescriptivist , because I believe the debate between the two is a continuum because of the experiences I have had with editing .
When I first thought about prescriptivism and descriptivism , I decided that I was firmly planted as a prescriptivist . Whenever I read a text that contained any kind of spelling , usage , or grammatical errors I immediately wanted to fix those errors . This became more apparent as I began reading text published online , especially personal blogs . I simply cannot understand how people are comfortable writing and publishing something for their friends and family to read when they were making mistakes such as using defiantly where they meant definitely , or interchanging the possessive your with the contraction you ’ re . This typified the statement made by Amy Einsohn in The Copyeditor ’ s Handbook : “ Many people throw up their hands at the quirks of English punctuation , but no one would want to read an unpunctuated text ” ( Einsohn 71 ). I was embarrassed for the authors each time I found these mistakes , and I felt compelled to bring the mistakes to their attention . In hindsight , I am grateful that I never did .
As I have taken classes for my editing minor , I have learned many more prescriptive rules than I ever before considered . Situations and issues I had never thought about were covered in my classes and in the Chicago Manual of Style . The first time I saw the giant orange book , I was a little bit concerned . Surely prescriptivists wouldn ’ t need a book that large to explain all the rules . For me , many of the items found in Chicago had been intuitive because I read extensively even as a child while I was learning the rules at school . I was able to recognize how the abstract rules were used in the books I was reading . It is interesting to contrast my initial thoughts about the Chicago Manual of Style with how I feel about it now — I turn to Chicago every time I have a question , and I am grateful that it has enough detail to cover nearly every issue that may arise .
One of the first texts I edited was a short paper written by a non-native English speaker . As I read through the paper , I was stunned by how many items I found that were incorrect . The paper didn ’ t even seem like it was in English when I looked at how the words were put together ! This experience made it clear that I was a prescriptivist — I wanted to mark every single mistake and make it right . I did not realize at the time that my tendency towards prescriptivism as I edited was mostly because the author was non-native English speaker . Months after I edited this paper , I read another statement in The Copyeditor ’ s Handbook that helped to put the experience in perspective . Einsohn states “ heavier intervention may be needed , for example , when the author does not have native or near-native fluency in English ” ( Einsohn 3 ). As I learned through this experience , anything written by an author who is not fluent in English will have a lot of opportunities for an editor to suggest prescriptivist changes .
Since those early experiences in editing , I have found that I do not always edit so prescriptively . Recently I edited the papers of several classmates , and I found myself not wanting to edit according to a completely prescriptivist outlook . Instead , I wanted to edit for clarity and to preserve the author ’ s voice by keeping the papers as true to how they had originally been written as possible . One of these papers was a work of creative fiction , and I surprised myself as I ignored some prescriptivist rules when I edited . I felt that many of the changes would take away from the voice of the author , so some choices I made were to preserve the style that the author used . As I did so , I felt that I was using the prescriptivist rules in Chicago how they are meant to be used . The preface of the Chicago Manual of Style states “ none of our recommendations are meant to foreclose breaking or bending rules to fit a particular case ” ( Chicago xii ). This is the perspective I took as I edited — to look at the specific case of the text I was editing and to make decisions to make that piece the best it could be .
Another experience that has shaped my perspective of the debate between prescriptivism and descriptivism is the experience of being the author . As the author of a text , I just want my writing to be the best it can be . I do not want spelling errors , misuse of words , or incorrect grammar in my paper , reflecting my prescriptive tendencies . In my academic writing , I want to observe the traditional , formal rules . At the same time however , I do not want an editor to edit so completely that I do not feel as though it is my work or my writing . Some deviation from the traditional rules of Chicago adds to my voice and makes my text unique .
My everyday language added to my confusion about which side of the debate I agreed with . In my interactions with friends , family , and peers , I often ignore many traditional rules . I find it acceptable to ignore