Excerpt from The Elements of Editing: A Modern Guide for Editors and Journalists by Arthur Plotnik (Macmillan, 1982)

Signs of a Dysfunctional (Editor-Related) Compulsiveness

• Holding to favorite rules of usage, whatever the effect on communication
• Musing for fifteen minutes on whether to use a hairline or one-point rule
• Changing every passive construction to an active one
• Concentrating on negative rather than positive space in layout

Signs of Functional (Reader-Oriented) Compulsiveness

• Following up
• Rewriting every headline that fails to motivate readership
• Quadruple-checking of page proofs
• Staring at type specifications a full ten seconds
• Reading every word in its final context
• As soon as one issue is put to bed, insisting that work begin on the next