A Word About Online Texts.
Taking the Mystery out of Editing #3.
Awen Rowan-Nelson
Even though making corrections to the text is far easier with online material than it is with printed material, overlooked errors can easily do the kind of harm that all writers and businesses wish to avoid.
Because of the speed of information sharing online, this harm can occur quickly, before the writer or business has had the opportunity to correct them and, sometimes, well before the writer or business even knows that they are there.
For a simple and familiar example, let’s take an oversight regarding one comma. Here, you may be wondering just how much one comma can possibly matter, especially in a lengthy piece. Well, consider the difference between “Let’s eat, Grandpa!” and “Let’s eat Grandpa!” One sentence simply moves the plot along, while the other could easily result in the writer or business being on the butt end of far too many bad jokes, or subjected to seemingly endless puns, or incurring the wrath of a family member who has become the laughing stock of his retirement community.
Because a great deal of text is published online nowadays, writers may mistakenly believe that their online texts do not require proofreading. Indeed, the widespread publication of online texts has contributed to the long-standing, but erroneous, belief that copyediting and proofreading are the same thing.
In reality, however, they are quite different. Once a text has been designed, formatted, and printed, an editor can no longer make major or substantive corrections or alterations to it. At this point, then, all other types of editing should have been completed. The opportunity for the kinds of changes that a copyeditor can make is not available to a proofreader, even though the proofreader may be well aware of the need for them.
Unclear writing and shoddy editing can be more than embarrassing: it can be costly!
In a 2017 court case, O’Connor vs. Oakhurst Dairy, an unclear sentence and debate over a missing comma in a labor law cost Oakhurst Dairy a 10 million dollar judgement before the First Circuit United States Court of Appeals.
While few examples are quite so dramatic (and it’s doubtful that anyone would actually take a fork to Grandpa if you left out the comma), the fact is that good editing pays for itself, even when the stakes (or steaks) are more normal.
The reality is that, when your clients or prospects misunderstand or cannot make sense of what you are saying, chances are that you will end up with unhappy clients and fewer conversions. And over time, those losses compound. That’s why it is crucial that you have your texts professionally edited so that they are as clear, correct, and comprehensible as possible!
The main thing to remember, then–whether a text will appear in print or online–is that the eyes of the proofreader are the last ones to see the text before it is published. It is the job of the proofreader to catch both the errors that the copyeditor missed and also to find errors that were introduced when the text went to layout. Indeed, a manuscript that will appear in print should always be copyedited before it goes to layout, and professionally formatted before it goes to a printer. Only then can a proofreader evaluate a manuscript as it will look once the proofreading is complete and it is sent to the publisher. In like manner, an online text should be in its final form before it goes to a proofreader.
A Final Note on Editing
At RowanWood Writing Services, we read every work carefully and completely before we begin to edit. For this reason, we are well-positioned to advise writers and businesses of the types of editing their works require. In general, we advise that every work be professionally copyedited and proofread. Indeed, we can assure you that, after spending months or even years writing a text and, at long last, you are looking over a published copy of your work for the first time, you do not want to find it riddled with errors that will undoubtedly discredit and embarrass you as a writer, undermine your credibility as a professional, and mortify you as a person. You want better for yourself, your work, and the business you represent, and we want better for both you and your business.
This is why, despite the fact that the choice of which type of editing a text requires is ultimately the decision of the writer or business, we will never waste either your money or your time. For example, if a writer or a business asks us to proofread a text that we determine is not ready for proofreading, we will explain what needs to be done before the work will be ready for proofreading. We will never hand a writer or a business a properly proofread but otherwise unpublishable text. To do otherwise would be unethical, on our view, and our main editor, Awen Inisfail Rowan-Nelson, is a professional ethicist with a PhD in Philosophy. (Her years of composing philosophical arguments also make her a crackerjack editor and advisor on argumentation!)
In the end, remember that not all grammatically correct sentences make sense (for example, “All red dogs are yellow”), and that while a spellchecker may be fine for a high school essay, it is sorely inadequate for the task of preparing a text for publication. Remember, as well, that errors are often introduced by non-professional editors, well-meaning readers, helpful family members, and even the writers themselves (sometimes after a work has been professionally edited, unfortunately).
So, to recap:
- Developmental Editing focuses on the big picture, and it is usually the first step in the editing process. It is particularly valuable when a writer is new, or has taken on a new kind of project, or simply wants to be sure that the structure of the draft is sound before progressing further.
- Content & stylistic Editing focuses on the text itself with an eye to improving the flow, clarity, consistency, persuasiveness, tone, and voice of the work, and to ensuring that the work is appropriate for its target audience.
- Copyediting focuses on the nitty-gritty of every sentence and every word. This type of editing is reserved for a manuscript that needs neither developmental editing nor content/stylistic/line editing.
- Proofreading is the final step before publication, and is done only after a work has been designed, formatted, and printed. It is the job of the proofreader to catch both the errors that the copyeditor missed and also to find errors that were introduced when the text went to layout.
- No matter whether your project is going to print or going on on line, it is crucial that you get your texts professionally edited. Editing errors can cost you money, customers, your reputation, and future business!