Soooo, it has been a long couple of weeks–fraught with some big decisions and some awful realizations and some editing surprises and some amazing help from above. Suffice it to say, I’m getting myself back in the saddle, so to speak, when it comes to blogging. My Editing class is right now in the middle of learning the art of copyediting, and so this post is extremely helpful in letting them know that, yes, their humble teacher does indeed know whereof she speaks. This, my friends, is what copy-editors do.
Today we have a guest post from editor Robert Doran, whose previous guest posts on the subject of all things editing —Structural Editing for Self-Publishers and Why Hire An Editor? — were exceedingly popular. Today he’s explaining exactly what it is copy-editors do, and he’ll be back on Thursday to tell us all about proofreading. Welcome back to Catherine. Caffeinated, Robert! Take it away…
“People often think that if you can write you can edit – and vice versa. But writing and editing are very different skills, and competency in one doesn’t guarantee ability in the other. The creative impulse that often drives the author should be largely absent in the copy-editor, who is tasked with problem-solving and who essentially approaches the text as a puzzle. Happily, the editor’s eye for detail complements the author’s creativity, and when they are combined successfully you end up with something…
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And I know that you know what a copy editor does! 🙂 A great post with valuable information!