What's it all mean?
It's Time to Start Your Adventures
Even if you are an experienced writer, you may not understand what the differences are between the various parts of the editing process. Even more, you may not be sure about why editing is important. The information on this page might help with some of that, but if you still have questions, please ask. I’m happy to help.
Why is it important to ensure that what we write is as good as it can be? In this age of text speak and lack of knowledge of basic grammar, why should we bother to get our work edited, proofread and laid out well? Isn’t it just the content that matters? Are things like grammar, spelling, flow, style, layout and copyright really an issue? Well, that all depends on what you are writing and what you want to do with it. Here’s a few things to ponder, in no particular order.
- We want our work to be successful in meeting our objectives, whether that be to attract visitors to our hotel, to write a good dissertation, to make people want to invest in, or buy our products/services, or to write books – both fiction and non-fiction. This means that we must find as many ways as we can to ‘stand out from the crowd’ and to assure our reader that we have an excellent knowledge of our product/service and that what we offer is professional and inviting.
- Even if you are telling a ripping good story, poor writing will put people off reading it. I wish I could have £1 for every time I’ve heard someone say, ‘it was a good plot, but it needed a good editor and I just couldn’t bear to finish it’. I think that this is particularly true of a large amount of prose: if the reader is struggling to plough through your work, they either won’t finish it, or they won’t understand it.
- It’s not the first sale that is the challenge, it’s the second. There’s a saying that is supposedly said of wonderful salespersons, that they could ‘sell ice to Eskimos’ – forgive the outdated terminology. In other words, they can sell people something that they don’t want. I will let you choose for yourself if you think this is even true, but going around making one sale at a time and never being able to go back there is not going to make anyone rich or successful. No; success lies in people coming back time after time, because they like the product and want to obtain more.
- Thus, success in the written word needs good communication skills, flexibility and dexterity in language. The age we live in is a digital age. Knowledge is in the hands of everyone who can use a computer – or a ‘phone. We communicate in ways that we couldn’t have even dreamt of twenty years ago. There is a new kind of digital literacy and those who master it will do better than those who do not.
Here’s an example. The following three pictures are of me. They are all perfectly good photos, albeit at different times of my life. In all of them, it is possible to see that it is me and they are all adequate representations.
Picture One
Picture number one is homely. It would appeal to close friends and family, because I look happy and they all like my cat. I would liken this to a story that is just as it is first written. People who are pleased for you, like friends and family, will be enthusiastic about it because they know it makes you happy to have achieved it.
Picture Two
Picture number two is rather better. This one has had some thought go into the composition of it and it looks much more like something that could be used in a wider circulation. I liken this to something that has had a bit of work on it. That might be a friend who has commented on it; an MS Word tool telling you whether it thinks you could improve readability or spelling; or it could be a software programme that will check on objective things: in other words things that it can keep in its database. That’s all good, it will help. However, it will only go just so far. For example: your friend doesn’t want to put you off writing whatever it is and doesn’t want to upset you, so they might not be as honest as you might like. Or they may not know basic grammar errors so they won’t spot them. Will they, for instance, know the difference between companies and company’s? The spell checkers and grammar checkers will pick up many basic errors. But they may also build in new ones. The predictive text on my phone constantly changes well to we’ll, for instance. The two have totally different meanings. Will they be able to pick up the difference between hair and hare? Or – that perennial problem – their, there or they’re? Finally, they won’t be able to check on continuity errors, or if you repeated yourself. I read a brilliant book recently where the main character bought cat food twice in two paragraphs. And one of my clients had an instance where an infantry brigade (foot soldiers) were fidgeting on their horses. That one had got past a large number of readers, several of whom were experts in the topic, in the four years the book had been published as an e-book. It came to me when it was being prepared for a paperback version. Perhaps most importantly, will they be able to help you to grow as a writer?
Picture Three
Then we come to picture number three. It was taken at a wedding and I was all dressed up in my best, with make-up on and my hair done. In other words, I was looking as good as it was possible for me to look. In addition, the photo was taken by a good photographer with an expensive camera. I’m sure that you don’t need me to labour the point that this is what I would say is your work after it has been worked on by an editor, had a final proofread, and the layout has been thoroughly checked for uniformity; titles, fonts, pagination, the list is endless. Things like quotations will have been checked for accuracy and phone numbers to make sure that aren’t just one digit out …. Copyright is also a major issue. Do you have the right to use the pictures you have used? Does someone else own them? Have you quoted a large amount of text from someone else’s book without properly attributing it?
Now let’s look at what the jargon means, as well as some history and some hints and tips. No idea what the difference is between proofreading and copy editing? You’re in the right place.
Setting the Scene
The word proofreading came from the traditional publishing industry. Letterpress printing was
Layout and Uniformity
Soluta postea epicuri cum ne, vide intellegebat est no, id duis suscipiantur eos.
Proofreading
Proofreading is the last chance you will have to correct any errors that might have slipped past the
The Four Stages
Editing and proofreading are different steps in the process of revising a text. Editing can involve
Copy Editing
Good writing is key to communicating effectively and connecting with readers.
Proofreading Tips
Clear, concise, error-free writing is vital in all walks of life, whether you're a student, a professional,
Developmental Package
In many ways the most important type of editing, helping you make your book better. Developmental
Working With Your Editor
The editor will focus on what you need to do to improve your text. Before they begin copy editing,