By Cami Walters-Nihipali
Here’s the truth (ugh, I hate admitting this and being vulnerable about my weaknesses) copy editing is the bane of my existence as a writer. What is copy editing? A copy edit, as opposed to a developmental edit and a line edit, which the blog explored in the last two posts, is an edit that examines the function of language. An editor dives into the nitty-gritty, detailed, grammatically-correct usage of verbs, verb-tense, commas and other kinds of punctuation, pronouns and antecedents, independent and dependent clauses, so on and so forth, catching mistakes made against all of those conventional rules. This edit is the polish.
While I’m a competent copy-editor for clients (which I think has to do with work distance, or, in other words, being too close to a project can make it difficult to objectively read it for errors), copy-editing my own writing is like staring through streaked windows. I try. I really do, but I find myself getting hung up on the rules of grammar and usage and talk myself in and out of commas and semicolons. This is why I hire a copy editor to help me with the copy of my writing and to catch those mistakes I always miss. I HIGHLY recommend hiring a copy editor because being too close to a piece of writing makes it difficult to catch those errors. I read my own writing as it’s supposed to be rather than the way it is.
Like with all editing, editors will date a big bit of your budget, and if you can only afford ONE edit, choose this one. Hiring a copy editor will cost you between $.02-.05 per word, and though that may seem expensive (i.e., @$.02/word, an 85K project would run around the $1,700 mark), the finished product will be that much stronger for it.
Don’t have the budget? Here are six things you should DEFINITELY look for as you copy edit:
Verb tense. This should remain consistent throughout the work. If you are writing in present tense, don’t switch part-way through to past (unless it makes sense for the flashback you’ve inserted).
Active versus passive voice. Hopefully the line editor caught all of the passive voice inserts, but just in case stray passive sentences made it through, fix those.
Pronouns. Too many “thats” and stray “whiches” to eliminate or fix. Hes, shes, its and theys without antecedents. Fix those.
Adverbs. Again, the line editor probably pointed these out. Be sure to look at the adverbs you’ve used one more time. Cut those that aren’t necessary.
Punctuation please. Did you get your capital letters right? Periods and quotation marks in the right places? Too many semicolons? Check that those commas are in the right spot. Should that be a question mark? Is that a dependent clause? Make sure it’s marked properly.
Spelling (and don’t forget those homonyms).