Hey all,
I'd like to take a sec and welcome the wonderful Nikolas Baron to the blog. Nikolas works at Grammarly, so feel free to comment on the post and he'll answer any questions you may have. Oh, and don't forget to enter to win a FREE 3 month trial of Grammarly. Personally, I love the thing! You'd not believe how many errors it catches beyond anything that your word processor does.
Copyediting vs Proofreading vs
Editing: What Exactly is the Difference?
“The sad man was crying very
loudly? and new the end was nearing. “
I know exactly what
you are thinking. Yikes. Yes, well, welcome to the world of editing where your
nightmares are my everyday reality! Hello, my name is Nick, and I am writing
this piece today to educate the world at large about the basic differences between
proofreading, copyediting and editing. For my work over at Grammarly, I spend
my time studying writing habits, and from experience I can tell you not enough
people are familiar with the definitions below.
So, a client emails
you with his first ever novel that he wants “edited”. You took AP English in
high school, and you are certain you can handle whatever is thrown at you. At
least you think this until you open the novel and realize it would take a small
army to clear the grammatical errors, let alone make the book actually
readable. But alas, you were tasked with “editing,” and as you sit there
wondering what to do next, you really wish you had pushed the client to explain
exactly what he meant.
It is obviously
important for one to understand exactly what the client is expecting, which
means being informed enough to educate your client if necessary. Keep in mind
the following definitions are more like guidelines rather than concrete
definitions.
Proofreading:
First we have
proofreading, or line editing, and yes, it is exactly what you
think—meticulously mulling over the text and correcting spelling, punctuation,
typos and other obvious mistakes. Proofreading takes a very well-trained eye
that most do not have, which is why almost every writer can benefit from a
thorough proofreader.
Proofreading is now most often
done using a word processor, but there is still a demand for good ole’
fashioned pen and paper proofreaders.
Copyediting:
A copyeditor’s job
involves all the work of a proofreader, as well applying their vast knowledge
of style.
Copyeditors produce works that are stylistically consistent
throughout and free of errors. This process usually involves going over the
text multiple times to ensure consistency, which can mean addressing things
like names of states are treated the same.
Further, copyeditors
more often than not act as fact checkers. This can be as simple as checking
historical facts, determining the plausibility of a certain character's
heritage, or perhaps even verifying the population of certain towns.
A good copyeditor
ensures that sentences make sense through clarification of ambiguity and poor
wording.
Editing:
The job of the editor
is to improve the flow and quality of writing—without a doubt the most
difficult job in the editing world. This means having the power to omit and
rewrite entire sentences or paragraphs for one to correct unnecessary
wordiness, or just any obvious errors. An editor though will not necessarily
proof or copyedit. Further, the text will have to be proofed again after being
worked on by an editor. Generally, editing is more costly than both proofing
and copyediting.
As with all things,
becoming a proficient editor of any kind takes time and practice. The more you
do it, the better you will become, and who knows, maybe one day you will become
a big shot editor. There are tools available to every young editor in training
aside from The Chicago Manual of Style.
For example, most word
processors have excellent tools with which to track changes and that can
clearly highlight and fix the problem without altering the text. There are also
several high quality websites now that can do more than just proofread.
Specifically, a site like Grammarly.com is an excellent tool as it can also
provide stylistic edits, as well as proofread, check for plagiarism, as well as
apply contextual edits based on the style of writing.
A Little about Nikolas
Nikolas discovered his love for the written word in Elementary School, where he started spending his afternoons sprawled across the living room floor devouring one Marc Brown childrens’ novel after the other and writing short stories about daring pirate adventures. After acquiring some experience in various marketing, business development, and hiring roles at internet startups in a few different countries, he decided to re-unite his professional life with his childhood passions by joining Grammarly’s marketing team in San Francisco. He has the pleasure of being tasked with talking to writers, bloggers, teachers, and others about how they use Grammarly’s online proofreading application to improve their writing. His free time is spent biking, traveling, and reading.
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