Information for RC Journal Editors
Rational Island Publishers began putting out journals for various constituencies in about 1970. These journals were, and are, a new kind of journalism. They are unlike anything in the wide world, in both their content and appearance. They have evolved, and continue to evolve, unique and uniquely valuable characteristics.
One of the best pieces of RC literature about editing was written by Harvey Jackins. You can find it in The Benign Reality on pages 437 to 453.
A PERSPECTIVE ON RC JOURNALS AND BEING AN EDITOR
An RC journal editor today has a somewhat different job description than an RC journal editor twenty years ago, or sometimes even more recently. There have been great advances in the technology of producing publications, and the various constituencies have grown and evolved. Also, different issues are emphasized in different time periods. During one period, becoming more effective counselors was a key issue and the content of the journals reflected that. Other key issues are climate change and eliminating racism, and articles about these issues should appear in any journal that comes out.
Most of the journals by now have several past issues. The content of these earlier issues will influence when another issue of the journal comes out, what is in it, and sometimes who it is primarily for. Today’s journal editor needs to be familiar with what has been printed previously.
Promoting the past issues is part of an editor’s job. Figuring out an effective way to do this is a work in progress—we need creative ideas for getting more people reading past issues.
Our goal is to publish a new issue of a journal when there is a need for it—a need to put forth new theory on a particular topic, to report on advances in counseling that are moving that constituency forward, to share experiences that are different from those previously published. The journals can be viewed as a series of books on a particular topic, with each one building on the one before.
(They can also be viewed and used as an encyclopedia of RC knowledge on the specific topic of the journal. Most of the material is timeless, and any one issue will contain discussions of RC theory, stories of obstacles and human courage, poems and songs, and proposals for action that will never be repeated anywhere else.)
Journal editors are also encouraged to consider their role more broadly. They can make sure that important theory and practice developed by their constituency are published and circulated in whatever way meets the exact needs of the moment—whether that is as a journal, in Present Time, as a pamphlet, or on an RC e-mail discussion list.
What unique and powerful role can a particular constituency (and journal) play in solving societal problems, for example, the climate emergency? What unique strengths does that group have that might make them the best group to take charge of the current situation?
SOME PURPOSES OF OUR JOURNALS
The following are some of the purposes of the RC journals:
- To make possible communication on a worldwide basis among large numbers of thoughtful people—without the censorship, distortion, or barriers usually imposed by the oppressive society’s institutions
- To encourage all RCers to become writers, and increasingly good writers, through the help of editing and the encouragement of seeing their words in print
- To use the clarity and persistence of the written word as a channel for evolving and continually improving our insights about re-emergence and liberation
- To achieve a permanent record of the intelligent explorations by Co-Counselors of thousands of new areas of concern and activity
- To make RC insights into the nature of reality available to all people
WORK FLOW
Here are some of the steps involved in editing a journal:
Collect the articles:
Occasionally someone will write an article and send it to you. This is not usual—most people need a personal invitation for them to be able to write an article. Even more dependably, you can interview people by telephone.
The RC e-mail discussion list for your constituency is another source of articles. You will need to follow its guidelines for using any postings. This includes getting the author’s permission.
You may also receive letter excerpts from your International Liberation Reference Person. (He or she will probably need an occasional reminder that you would like to get them.)
We can occasionally send you letters that people have sent to Rational Island or to Present Time or other RC journals, or posted on e-mail discussion lists, if they look like they might be appropriate for your journal.
Transcripts from workshops can also be used (try to find someone to volunteer to transcribe them; we would be delayed in doing this at Rational Island).
It is also possible to reprint articles that have already appeared in Present Time or another RC journal.
Get official permission from the authors to publish their articles. We will send you the permission-to-publish form.
Edit the articles as thoroughly and carefully as you can.
We suggest that you be in contact with the other RC journal editors (and/or editors of your local RC newsletter or other interested RCers) for discharge, to share editing ideas, and even to check each other’s editing. In meetings of RC journal editors, a common complaint is feeling isolated (and actually being isolated). An e-mail discussion list for editors has helped, but we encourage you to seek out the support you need to make the job of editor enjoyable and re-emergent for you.
E-mail the articles to us as Microsoft Word documents. Use our specified formatting (see the document describing this). Keep the original of each article so we’ll have the original to refer to, if necessary.
Sometimes we ask you to send us articles as soon you finish editing them rather than waiting until you have enough edited articles for an entire issue. We will consult with you about this.
Let us know which articles you think are especially important for the journal and which could be omitted if there is a shortage of space.
Try to collect and send us drawings and photographs you think would be good in your journal. (The journal will usually get done sooner if you can do this.) We are no longer using “posed” photos of RCers in the journals. And, in general, we are not using photos of RCers.
Keep in touch with us. Let us know how the journal is coming along and when you expect to have it ready. Feel free to call us for encouragement or suggestions.
We do the final layout and, if necessary, write the titles for the articles.
We have not tried to make the RC journals look like commercial journals and magazines. We realize that they look different. It’s intentional.
When we do the layout, we usually use several typefaces, indent paragraphs, and justify margins.
Please propose the sections and their order, and the order of the articles within each section.
If there is a disagreement about the journal cover, layout, or anything else, the editor-in-chief of Rational Island Publishers, Tim Jackins, will make the final decision.
Because of our heavy and often unpredictable workload here at Rational Island, there are often delays at this end. We ask that you expect this and be patient. We have recently tried “farming out” the layout task—it’s not yet clear if this works better than doing it ourselves.
SOME REASONS FOR EDITING
These are some of the reasons for editing an article:
- To help the writer say what they meant to
- To make the article easier to read
- To make sure that what we publish is consistent with RC theory by (1) editing out oppressive language, (2) editing out irrational assumptions, and (3 improving the “tone” of an article in places where the painful emotion of the writer is evident
- To make the writing clear for the person who will be typesetting the article
If you are reading an article and something seems boring or confusing or stiff to you, then it probably needs editing. (Or possibly you need to discharge about why it feels that way to you.)
SOME TIPS FOR EDITING
Below are some specific suggestions for editing the RC journals:
- Take out any unnecessary words, sentences, or paragraphs. (After doing this, read it again, and typically you will find more to take out. We’ve found that it is difficult to err in this direction. At the same time, we can be careful not to “erase” the “voice” of the author.)
- If a writer wrote with over-emphasis, correct that by taking out the exclamation points or words like “very” or “really.”
- If an article is so confused about RC theory that it doesn’t make sense, or so awkwardly written that it’s hard to tell what the writer was trying to say, it’s fine to use only a few sentences or paragraphs that do make sense (if they can stand on their own) or to not use the article at all.
- If people are in fact talking about their own personal experience but generalizing it to their whole group or putting it in terms of what the reader should do, put the writing back into the first person.
- We accept non-U.S. English spelling (for example, “organisation” rather than “organization”), but within each article the usage should be consistent.
- Writers whose first language is not English may need to have some of their writing made grammatically correct and clear, but you need not, and probably should not, rewrite the article to where it sounds like it was written by a native speaker.
- In general, edit out slang expressions. If you keep them in, give their meaning in parentheses within the article (we are trying not to use footnotes because their use can slow down the layout process)
- If the author has used acronyms, spell out the full name (for example, instead of NOW, write National Organization for Women).
- Keep on the lookout for anything that will not be obvious to someone from a different country or from outside the particular liberation group.
OTHER SUGGESTIONS
Here are a few more suggestions:
- Encourage a large, diverse group of people from many countries to write for your journal. The RC Community is a worldwide community. Solicit articles from all over. Seek articles from people of all class backgrounds. Do you have articles from people targeted by racism? From both women and men? From people of many different ages? From experienced and new RCers?
- Articles in languages other than English, with an English translation, are especially welcome.
- Ask people to write articles on subjects that would fill in gaps in what you already have for the issue. Ask people to write who don’t ordinarily and easily write for RC literature. If you hear that someone in your liberation group is thinking or doing something that would be good for other people to hear about, encourage him or her to write to you about it (or do a phone interview with that person if you want to be sure it will happen). Sometimes a questionnaire will elicit useful articles.
- If the International Liberation Reference Person (or another leader) for your liberation group has difficulty writing, see if you can figure out ways to get his or her thinking into print. Give him or her attention to write. Interview him or her and turn the transcript into an article. Arrange to tape and transcribe his or her lectures at workshops he or she leads.
- People tend to be more relaxed, conversational, and easy to understand when they are writing a letter or talking into a tape recorder than when they’re sitting down to “write an article.” Encouraging people to write a letter to you telling you what they have been doing and thinking, rather than having them write an article about it, will often produce a better article.
Welcome to the job of editor! We look forward to working with you.
Rational Island Publishers Staff
May 2001
Updated May 2014
Minor revisions, June 2016
Minor revisions, August 2019
Minor revisions, July 2020