C O P Y E D I T I N G
Copy editing is a most important and time-consuming task. It requires the editor's close attention to a document's every detail, a thorough knowledge of what to look for and of the style to be followed, and the ability to make quick, logical, and defensible decisions.
To begin with, editors are thoroughly familiar with and comfortable applying the universally accepted editorial and typographic marks and symbols—as described in the Chicago Manual of Style and summarized under proofreader's marks in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary—that are commonly understood by compositors working in English.
The editorial function comprises two processes: mechanical editing and substantive editing. Mechanical editing involves a close reading with an eye on consistency of capitalization, spelling, and hyphenation; agreement of verbs and subjects; scores of other matters of syntax; punctuation; beginning and ending quotation marks and parentheses; number of ellipsis points; numbers given either as figures or as words; and hundreds of other, similar details of grammatical and typographic style.
In addition to regularizing those details of style, the copy editor is expected to catch infelicities of expression that mar an author's prose. Such matters include but are by no means limited to dangling participles, misplaced modifiers, mixed metaphors, unclear antecedents, unintentional redundancies, faulty attempts at parallel construction, mistaken junction, overuse of an author's pet word or phrase, unintentional repetition of words, race or gender or geographic bias, and hyphenating in the predicate, unless the hyphenated term is an entry in the dictionary and therefore permanently hyphenated.
The second, nonmechanical, process—substantive editing—involves
rewriting, reorganizing, or suggesting more-effective ways to present material.
o Editors identify
by instinct and learn from experience how much of this kind of editing to
do on
a
particular document.
o Experienced
editors recognize, and do not tamper with, an author's unusual figures of
speech or
idiomatic
usage.
o They preserve
the author's voice.
o They know when
to make an editorial change or to simply suggest it.
o They know when
to delete a repetition or to merely point it out to the author.
o They respect
an author's right to expect conscientious, intelligent editorial help.
o They never make
queries that sound stupid, naive, or pedantic or that seem to reflect
upon
an author's scholarly ability or powers of interpretation.
o And they handle
untold and unsung other matters of mechanics, substance, and style.
Adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style by
EditAmerica
Expert Copyediting
and Proofreading
115 Jacobs Creek Road
Ewing, NJ 08628
Phone: 609-882-5852
Fax: 609-882-5851
E-mail: editamerica@usa.com
Web site: www.editamerica.com
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