7 Elements of Copy Editing

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In the world of editing, there are quite a few kinds of editors to help during different stages of your project. If you’re writing a book, you most likely have heard of developmental and structural editors. Those are the ones who help build your story. These writers along with others who plan on publishing often call a line editor to help with the flow of each sentence. And for any writing—from books to emails—a proofreader makes sure to catch any last-minute errors before sending your work to your audience. But where do copy editors fit into all this?

Copy editors work between line editing and proofreading. So, the majority of the writing is already done. The focus now is on the rules of the language. There are many things these editors look for while working on your text; I couldn’t begin to name them all. So, let’s focus on seven big aspects of this type of editing and some examples of how copy editors can help.

1. Grammar

Unless we’re in school, we don’t often think about verb conjugation. But when there’s an error, we usually know it right away. We may easily remember that it’s “I was,” “you were,” and “she was.” But did you ever realize that if you’re speaking about a hypothetical situation, you don’t say, “if I was you,” but rather, “if I were you.” Errors that are not so obvious can be corrected by a copy editor.

2. Spelling

Everyone knows the common issue of there, their, and they’re. Or maybe it’s the it’s vs. its battle that drives you crazy. And have you ever been confused whether it’s dreamed or dreamt? That one’s tricky because they’re both correct! You just have to know their place. Copy editors not only fix the spelling errors, but they also make sure those tricky words stay consistent with the dialect you’re using.

3. Punctuation

Commas are a necessary evil. Maybe you’ve heard the example:

Let’s eat, Grandma.
Let’s eat Grandma.

One is speaking to Grandma, the other is suggesting an awful meal. But we can save Grandma by using commas correctly. Here’s another example:

I love my brother, Sam.
I love my brother Sam.

In this case, the comma adds even more information to the sentence. When the comma is used, it shows that Sam is the only brother. But without the comma, the writer is specifying which brother they’re talking about. They could have a dozen, but right now, we only care about Sam.

4. Readability

There are so many words in the dictionary, it can be a challenge to pick which one to use in any given sentence. Sometimes, in order to make a good impression, we may try to use a lesser-known word to heighten our writing. (I know I used to do this in school all the time.) But if a word is so uncommon that we had to use a thesaurus to find it, chances are our readers will too. When copy editors work through your piece, they can pick out what may be an inappropriate word choice for your readers.

5. Consistency

Especially when you’re working with specific requirements, consistency is important in order to stay on brand. Say it’s the spelling of a unique product name, the types of dashes to use, or which dialect of English needs to be written throughout, being inconsistent makes a bad impression. Copy editors ensure that this does not happen.

6. Clarity

Sometimes words get jumbled up when we try to speak. (It happens to me all too often.) But this can also happen when writing. We think much faster than we can write. Sometimes our thoughts are clear to us, but our readers may have a hard time following. That’s when it’s nice to have a fresh pair of eyes to make sure the point is easily understood.

7. Tone

The tone of your writing should differ depending on what you’re writing and who the audience is. Is your piece informal? If so, you can most likely get away with contractions and slang. However, in a journal article for a professional company, those may be things you want to steer clear of. When copy editors see something that may seem out of line with the tone of your piece, they either correct it or leave a comment addressing the possible issue.

Conclusion

Of course, these are just a few things that copy editors focus on. When I started in this profession, I realized that I had no idea how many kinds of errors there could be! It proves true that we don’t know what we don’t know. But with the knowledge I have now, it’s plain to see just how important copy editing really is.

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