Copy Editing

Overview

Editing is not rewriting. The author decided what to say; the editor makes sure a reader can find it, believe it and act on it, and that nothing on the page is wrong. This skill follows the levels professional editors work in — structure, then style, then consistency, then proofreading — and adds one pass that marketing copy needs and a novel does not: checking every claim for evidence.

Three things come back from every edit: the edited copy, a change log that gives a reason for each change, and questions only the author can answer. A change without a reason is a preference, and the author is free to ignore it.

Instructions

1. Settle the brief

Ask only for what the request and the project do not already show:

• Reader and action. Who reads this, and the one thing they should do afterwards.
• Where it appears, because that sets length limits (table in step 6).
• What must not change: legal wording, prices, product and feature names, quotes from customers.
• House style. Look for a style guide, a brand voice document or a glossary in the project (docs/, content/, README), and for the same terms in published pages. Without one, follow the usage already dominant in the text.
• Depth of edit: