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Proofreading and Copy Editing

October 12, 2008

Proofreading

Proofreading consists of reviewing a document for typographical, spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors. This may be done either against an original document or “blind”. Many proofreaders are also required to take on some light copy editing duties, such as checking for grammar and consistency problems. Proofreading is usually the final check of the work before publication.

Copy Editing

The copy editor’s job is summarized in the Five Cs: to make the copy clear, correct, concise, comprehensible, and consistent. It encompasses proofreading and requires a formidable command of the language, a great eye for detail, broad general knowledge, and sharp critical thinking skills. A major part of the copy editor’s job is to preserve the author’s voice or style while making any necessary changes to the text.

The copy editor is expected to ensure that the text flows, that it is sensible, fair, and accurate, and that it will provoke no legal problems for the publisher. Newspaper copy editors are sometimes responsible for choosing which news service wire copy the newspaper will use, and for rewriting it in accordance with house style. Often, the copy editor is the only person other than the author to read an entire text before its publication. Newspaper editors often regard copy editors as the newspaper’s last line of accurate defense.

A copy editor may abridge text, by “cutting” and “trimming” it, to reduce the length of a novel or an article, either to fit broadcast or publishing limits or to improve its meaning. This may involve omitting parts of the text, but sometimes it is necessary to rewrite uncut parts to bridge the missing details and plot; some abridgements are only slightly shorter than the originals, but others may be much abridged, particularly when a literary classic is abridged for the children’s market.

Interestingly, there is no agreement on the form of the term; it is spelled as one word (copyediting), two words (copy editing), or hyphenated (copy-editing). All are correct, the hyphenated version being more prevalent in the United Kingdom.

Posted by white smoke | Filed Under Writing Software, editing, editing proofreading, english writing, proofreading, proofreading software, white smoke, whitesmoke, writing proofreading 

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