Mark Your Words! #atozchallenge2017

Editing. It’s the process of correcting, revising and adapting a film, soundtrack and, often, a written work prior to launch or publication. The point is to prepare and modify a work so that it would be error-free and acceptable to the target audience. In the publishing industry (print and online), it is particularly essential.

Before I continue, let us first differentiate editing from copyediting, they are often interchanged or thought of as the same. They are very much related, but definitely not the same. Editing happens first and takes a lot of time; copyediting simply follows.

The actual editing involves the editor going through the contents to correct misleading, confusing and wrong information. It requires teamwork between the editor and the writer. The focus is more on the writing process. The editor suggests and sometimes directly gives improvements for the writer to work on. They collaborate until the editor decides the work is ready. It ain’t over till the editor sings! (And yes, an editor could give you a scolding for using “ain’t” unless it’s for dialogue purposes.)

Copyediting, on the other hand, may only be started once the actual editing is done. Nevertheless, it doesn’t make copyediting less important. This is another type of editing that is more on the technical side, correcting copy rather than contents.

Nobody wants to read copy that is full of mistakes. Once is okay, twice or thrice, maybe. But much more, then we have a problem. It can be rather annoying and may even affect the book’s impact itself. What good is a beautiful story if readers get confused due to improper copyediting?

According to NY Book Editors, a copyedit…

Corrects spelling, grammar, punctuation, and syntax
Ensures consistency in spelling, hyphenation, numerals, fonts, and capitalization
Flags ambiguous or factually incorrect statements (especially important for non-fiction)
Tracks macro concerns like internal consistency.

Copyediting includes proofreading, “To read (copy or proof) in order to find errors and mark corrections.” If you’ve ever experienced having your work copyedited, you may have encountered what are called as editing marks. If it was your first time, it may have been confusing. In my personal experience, it was not confusing as we had tackled these marks in journalism class. I use this whenever I get the chance to edit copy, especially when I copyedit my own work.