In a perfect world, we would all have a professional editor always available to ensure our written work was top-notch. We would write the article, not care about grammar, spelling, or punctuation and expect our authors are smart enough to understand the thought process that went into creating the great piece of work. If it weren’t good enough, the editor would handle the rest.
And why not? With clients, publications, and agencies increasingly becoming tough on quality, it’s hard to submit an article, eBook, or whitepaper without some sort of editing going into it. But tighter budgets and punishing deadlines also mean that in most cases, there will be no one available to edit your work to make it look good. In fact, you are expected to edit your work before you submit the first draft.
And you better get used to this. There’s nothing worse than the gut-sinking feeling of spotting an error in something you’ve written just after you’ve hit the publish button or have emailed a document to an entire mailing list.
Check out our simple tips to ensure your writing is polished, professional, and fit for purpose.
Copyediting and Proofreading: What’s the Difference?
You’ve probably heard the terms copyediting and proofreading used interchangeably. In a nutshell, there are two distinct levels of revising written work. Copyediting looks at the big picture, while proofreading takes care of cosmetic edits. Both are essential parts of the revision process.
Proofreading should be the final phase of editing before you hit “submit”. It’s where you tidy up spelling, grammar, punctuation, inconsistent capitalization, and style-related errors. Think of it as the final polish.
But before proofreading, you need to do a thorough copyedit. This is a substantial review of your text and is best undertaken once the draft is complete. It’s where you revise your work to make it better, crafting it into something that shines.
Why? Because what you think you’ve written and what was actually written can be very different. When you put yourself in your readers’ shoes, you will often cringe at the quality of your work. That’s why copyediting often results in rewriting entire paragraphs of texts to improve overall consistency, structure, storytelling style, and flow of information. It also often means rearranging or shortening sentences, reorganizing sections, or elaborating on something you only touched upon. In short, copyediting can see you make significant structural changes to your written work.
The Value of Editing Your Work
Once you’ve put all your thoughts into a written form, sticking to a few simple copyediting rules can make a world of difference.
Copyediting ensures your next email, website copy, blog post, or whitepaper reads like the work of a professional. The aim is to produce a structurally sound document that flows well, avoids ambiguity, and includes all the information the reader needs. If your written work is ambiguous, untidy, or unclear, your readers will treat it accordingly. And worse still, your readers won’t probably read your next piece, and your editors or clients won’t give you further work either.
Importantly, copyediting gives you the best chance of ensuring your document doesn’t contain embarrassing mistakes. A thorough copyedit can catch the flaws in your writing before they’re shared with a wider readership. Sometimes editors and publishers will do final proofreading before publishing, but they may expect you to do the copyediting yourself. It’s not the proofreader’s task to tell you that you repeated the same concept twice within the article or that the conclusion to your story was abrupt.
Also, when you edit your writing, you will learn new things. A classic example is when you must keep your piece within a specific word count. Forced to comply with such restrictions, you will learn how to present your ideas succinctly.
Our Best Practice Tips for Copyediting
Now that you know what copyediting is and why you need to do it, here are some best practice tips.
Tip 1: Take a Break
You may have spent weeks writing your e-Book or several days composing an email newsletter. You have thoroughly researched your topic, repeatedly referenced your notes, made sure you have addressed all the submission requirements and even asked friends or family members to read your work. Everyone agrees it’s a great job. Now you have to do the editing.
Our advice? Take a break. Even when you are under a tight schedule, give it at least a good night’s sleep time and come back fresh.
Why? Because when you have spent a long time writing, you will be highly familiar with your work and be less likely to spot omissions, errors, or repetition.
Tip 2: Keep the Outline Handy
You should start copyediting your written work by checking if it covers everything it’s supposed to cover. One of the ways to check that is by comparing the written piece with the outline.
An outline is a bullet point list of what your written work should cover and how it should cover it. It gives an overview of the sections, subsections, and the depth they should go into. If you are not in the habit of creating an outline before you start writing, we highly recommend you do so from now on. Not only does it help you write the actual piece quickly, but the comparison also helps ensure you haven’t left any vital piece of information.
Tip 3: State your Goal Explicitly
It’s easy to assume that once your audience starts reading, they will automatically identify its aim and what you are trying to say. This is seldom the case. Your article’s introduction should clearly state the problem, why the reader should read on to find the answer, and what you will cover to give them the answer. Unless you’ve clearly stated these points upfront, it’s unlikely your readers will be motivated to read on. This is where your subject line, title, and opening paragraph can make a huge impact. You can use catchy or engaging wording to engage your readers early. If you are writing a multi-part series, briefly mention what the reader learned in the last installment and what they will learn today.
Tip 4: Check the Document Structure
You should map a clear path for your “story” and ensure you adhere to it. Each piece of writing should have a clear structure with a beginning (introduction), a middle (the body), and an end (conclusion).
We talked about the introduction briefly. The document’s body should present the story’s central theme in a logical, easy-to-follow path. In other words, there should not be any abrupt jumps from one concept or event to the next. If you expect the reader to be familiar with something, don’t just assume it. State such assumptions where necessary. If you are writing an essay or a blog and you don’t want to want extraneous information, make a reference to an external link. Your readers will appreciate this.
Finally, the conclusion should be where your readers will make their own decision. You can state what the reader has learned or what the story has covered and give direction for where to go. It could be a simple call to action for signing up for the newsletter, an invitation to an event, or a prompt to check out other written works from you. It could even be a simple message for the reader to contemplate on.
Tip 5: Remember Your Audience
Even though you have put your heart and soul into your writing, remember that you are writing for your readers. Keep your audience’s level of understanding and time in mind. If your writing is for new mums about their newborns, you will want to use a compassionate voice and keep your message clear and short. Why? Because typically, they will have a short time available for reading and will be looking for relevant information only. Being overly patronizing or using medical jargon (unless you explain) won’t help here. If you are writing about the latest multi-player games, you must remember that your readers are tech-savvy and want to learn something new. Using a sales pitch won’t resonate with them. As you read through your work, ask yourself how each piece of information you provide will benefit your readers and if it should be there.
Tip 6: Don’t Repeat Yourself
When passionate about a topic, we often stress the same point more than once. However, your readers will appreciate brevity and clarity. If you have stated an opinion or fact once, leave it there: no reason to state it differently or say, “as we have said before”. If your text contains waffle words that don’t serve a purpose or make a point, take them out. Getting rid of repetition saves valuable time for the readers and allows you to add more relevant information.
Tip 7: Use Simple Sentences
In the same way that we find it easy to switch off when people talk in a monotone, readers will also quickly move away when they are not engaged. Try varying the length of your sentences. You may need to combine some sentences or shorten others. Similarly, don’t use convoluted sentences that go nowhere. As we showed in another blog post, writing in plain language makes reading much easier. This means you will have to break down complex sentences, use less jargon, and be concise. Similarly, paragraphs can be reordered to flow more smoothly, and text can be shuffled around. Use tools like Grammarly or Hemmingway, and look up synonyms where necessary.
Tip 8: Don’t Cram Everything in One Place
Some subjects can be quite lengthy to explain. Don’t try to tell the story in one piece if there’s too much information to fit in. For example, anything above 1500 words for blog posts will usually see readers losing interest or moving away. Break down your story into a multi-part series and create logical links between them so readers can follow through. What you leave out can be as important as what you leave in.
Final Words
Copyediting is the first line of defense against mediocre writing. It’s worth investing your time and effort – you’ll be rewarded with clear, concise, and compelling words that people want to read, and your readers will thank you for that.
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