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\n<\/p><\/div>"}, https://nybookeditors.com/2015/01/copyediting-vs-line-editing/, http://grammarguide.copydesk.org/2014/01/19/advice-to-an-aspiring-copy-editor/, https://www.copyblogger.com/copy-editing-tips/, http://www.iep.utm.edu/volunteer/copyedit/, consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow, The Associated Press style guide (especially for journalists), An in-house style guides, if your publication agency has one. If you appear nuts, you’re usually doing something right. Common measurements like “cm” may not need to be defined. Hello, and thank you for your great blog post. Thanks for sharing, Olle! Copywriting is the art and science of strategically delivering words (whether written or spoken) that get people to take some form of action. I’ll never fully understand how my brain works, but I keep finding ways to trick it . That is why it is so necessary for the work to be read by an outsider who’s specialized in finding errors and … As you say, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and even bored with your own writing. I love to let a blog draft mellow for days or weeks if I can. For example, I edited this post in five different sessions. In this case, the proofreader compares the original text with the one already printed and corrects all the mistakes made. X Your email address will not be published. I also do as Jack Price noted above, and make PDFs which I then check again (and again (and again! Finally, I like to add tips for the reader in dealing with a dilemma I have discussed (if it makes sense for that post). The text must be aligned with the requirements of spelling. But once I knew to look for it during revisions, I was able to correct it. A slow proofreading practice also helps you catch real-word typos, such as “my” instead of “may,” “through” instead of “thorough,” “most” instead of “post,” or “to” instead of “too.”. How to solve [pii_email_0763df7609c640dae09d] error solved. Each paragraph should satisfy an element of CMKR — provide Comfort, be Memorable, share Knowledge, or list Resources. If the text is being edited constantly in the process of writing it, then the proofreading is done after the test print of the text, when it is ready, but before its mass printing. Proactive editing shouldn’t be devastating. Realistically assess your post’s urgency. Alexander Peterman is a Private Tutor in Florida. Awesome; After a few years of half-heartedly thinking and occasionally doing content marketing (not all that well) I made the decision yesterday to do this thing properly. Once you’ve written a draft, review these 15 copy editing tips that help turn your articles, landing pages, webinar content, podcast episodes, and videos into shareable works of art. A news story is written by hurried reporters, and is rough-edged like raw diamond. It’s for all types of content creators who want to build audiences of interested prospects. A horizontal strikethrough (―) indicates that a word should be removed. Followed by a voice “Oh, but you didn’t do ANY of this on those blog posts you bashed out in a hurry last week, did you?”, Fortunately those posts are scheduled for next week. Walking away from your writing is key not only to editing well, but also to keeping the creativity flowing. Until you decide you have a final draft, each review of your text is an opportunity to use your creativity to make it better. Editing is often overlooked, which is a shame, because that’s how you turn milk into ice cream, or bland content into a piece of art . I can now put this into practice. Reading them makes me feel like an editor feels ! We’re often “too close” to our own writing and easily overlook obvious mistakes because they appear correct (to us) when we read a draft we’ve written. During in-person communication, you can rephrase your verbal speech if you observe a puzzled or clueless look on someone’s face. A copy edit is one of the last stages of publication, which a text should receive shortly before being published (whether online or in print). It never occured to me to save the edited out bits! Here’s my most closely guarded secret editing trick. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The more familiar you become with editing your own copy, the more quickly you should be able to pick up on your tells. Such thinking implies, of course, the specialization of the copy editor in the field of technology, medicine, law or any other field. Note if the units of measurement in a technical paper shift from inches to centimeters part way through, alert the author. Those articles serve the audience, not the content creator. Editing and proofing [aloud] off paper captures more oversight than doing so on screen. Two of the most powerful, which I live and work by, every day, and which your post bring to mind: “There is no good writing, only good re-writing.” Hemingway, “All writing is constant course correction.” Rick Duris. Copy editing is the process of working on text that is being prepared for publication, which includes checking, correcting and processing the text. Read slowly, as if each word is foreign to you. Thanks for a great post! For example, if “Walmart” is the correct spelling, you should never also write “Wal-Mart,” “WalMart,” or “Wal-mart” within the same post. Typos are various technical mistakes, for example, no spaces or incorrect letter order. I guess I don’t enjoy the process of polishing it incrementally!! Polished writing looks effortless, but it takes a lot of time and patience. Incredible piece, Stefanie, and the post itself shows just how powerful these habits are. Unless you have a strict deadline, take a break for at least a day after you’ve completed your draft. But every time you should not rely on the original either, so the editor should doubt everything and always check all the facts. If you’re copy editing your own text, you can probably skip this step. And, the more ruthless you can be to eliminate them from your writing. Academic writing is a type of assignment that reflects the skills of thinking, argumentation, analysis, and demonstrates how well a student understands the basic material of the course, and how much additional work was done by researching and analyzing a specific topic. We started to do proof reading by default on all the work we send to clients. I always write my posts and publish them in one sitting after checking for the typos and the flow. Time is a true luxury. I live by aphorisms. If a reader strains to comprehend your message, she won’t have any motivation to share your writing with others. I always read my posts out loud. Realistically assess your post’s urgency. Begin with your favorite part to generate editing momentum. That is why it is so necessary for the work to be read by an outsider who’s specialized in finding errors and correcting them. I find that nothing gives me more objectivity than time away from the article. Can actually improve my focus. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Among the most common types of academic writing note, a report, a project, a dissertation, and an essay. Forget that you wrote the content and consciously assume an Editor Mindset that’s free from your Writer Ego. But just as you explained, they help you create your best work. These are useful tips to create an amazing work Stefanie! You’ll find new ways to modify your writing when you return to it with fresh eyes. I save my final version as a pdf for one last proofreading, like casting a sculpture in bronze to see how the light hits it. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. 1. . A slash through a capital letter (Ø) means that is should be lowercase. Luckily, digital text is not as permanent as a bronzed sculpture and it’s fairly easy to make changes once you see your writing in a new light. Weak sections may appear in final versions of blog posts if you don’t edit enough because reviewing the entire post in one sitting overwhelms you. We only suggest products we’ve reviewed, and in many instances also use, in order to help you make the best choices. The presentation should be simple and readable. It’s a piece of art – it deserves to be treated so. I love this site because you always make the information useful to me in my own writing. 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