Editing: Get all your Editing done by OKAPro!
Copy-editing (or, copyediting) is the professional way to beautify language, to polish it and to give it an identity to be proud of!
What is involved in Copyediting?
Copyediting is one of the essential processes that we apply to language, be it written text or text which will be used in an audio format.
The copy editor or more simply, the editor, will go over a text, analyzing it for accuracy and consistency in the way words are spelled and used, for example. Other aspects that an editor will focus on are: formatting (at a basic level), semantics, punctuation that affects the meaning of the text, terminology, jargon and grammar.
A good copy editor will follow the Chicago Manual of Style or another recent version of a style-guide. Language is constantly evolving and changing. For that reason, an editor must be up to date with language trends. Many editors are also confirmed bookworms – that is how they keep up with the trends. What better way to combine business with pleasure?
Seriously, though an editor needs to be familiar with different types of language and have a broad knowledge base in order to be able to handle the then-current project. Often, getting involved in a new project means getting acquainted with a new type of language and sometimes a completely new field of knowledge.
Do You Need to Love Language in Order to Edit Well?
Definitely.
Those among us who delight in expressing themselves in as accurate a manner as possible, and those of us who almost glow from the satisfaction of using ‘just the right words’ will undeniably handle a text given for editing in a professional way.
It is common knowledge that when you work in something you love, then, it is almost not like ‘work’. It is comparable to a labor of love.
Is it Worth the Expenditure?
Compare these sentences:
Before editing: “The girl went happily to school she was looking forwards to meetig her firends.”
Don’t think that copy-editors do not get text like that from great authors – sometimes they do!
After editing: “The girl skipped all the way to school. Oh, how she was looking forward to meeting her friends!”
The beady eye of the editor goes over every word of every line in the manuscript and brings it to a new better level. A lovable level. It is what makes the difference between someone reading a book and saying: “That was nice, but it didn’t grab me”, and reading a book and not being able to put it down, because it is so delicious!
So, is it worth the expenditure, absolutely yes!
SEE THE PORTFOLIO for samples of copy editing.
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