Comments on: Your Copy Sucks: You Don’t Even Know What “Edit” Means

By: envymyindependence

envymyindependence — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:19:53 +0000

Oh pshaw. These distinctions only matter to people who care about whether the person in the corner cubicle has suffered sufficiently to earn it or whether their own window has a prettier view of the rat-ridden alley than the next drone's cell window. In the real world, when I move a comma, I'm editing and while I do that, I may copy-edit and even proof and in the end it's entirely up to me whether I take a break or not…

By: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Editorial Process « The Writing Resource

Unraveling the Mysteries of the Editorial Process « The Writing Resource — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:52:41 +0000

[...] recently read “Your Copy Sucks: You Don’t Even Know What ‘Edit’ Means” by T.J. Dietderich on PR Breakfast Club. It was great to see someone not only defend editing [...]

By: DLK

DLK — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:26:32 +0000

Not to be anal (but I am), but the prioper expression is actually “one and the same,” not “one in the same.”

By: Erin Brenner

Erin Brenner — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:21:56 +0000

This was humorous and helpful post, but I don't think this post goes deep enough. See my response: http://bit.ly/2ztfU4.

By: DLK

DLK — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:26:32 +0000

Not to be anal (but I am), but the prioper expression is actually “one and the same,” not “one in the same.”

By: Erin Brenner

Erin Brenner — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:21:56 +0000

This was humorous and helpful post, but I don't think this post goes deep enough. See my response: http://bit.ly/2ztfU4.

By: Gretchen

Gretchen — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:43:00 +0000

I think you're omitting intermediate stages between editor tasks like making “decisions about what goes into the publication” and “changing the plot” and copyediting tasks like grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

This is sometimes called “line editing” and sometimes “developmental editing.” This editor focuses more on meaning and style than on grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

Today, the copyeditor often does the line editing along with the copyediting. Just as the proofreader often has to fix some copyediting along with the real proofreading.

By: Songtruth

Songtruth — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:15:44 +0000

Wow, that's enlightening, because at my last job, I was called a Proofreader (and paid that way), but I proofread jobs from the early copy stages all the way through to the end, meaning the proofs from the printer. So, I guess I was the copy editor and the proofreader. Thanks for clearing this up! I just got a retro-promotion!

By: rahsf

rahsf — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:04:42 +0000

There's a bit of a twist on this that I've found in online communications. As a proofreader, I was responsible for placing the content and formatting it correctly, plus all of the work of the copy editor. But the copy editing was extremely limited; only blatant errors were corrected. I think the two jobs have become one in the same, at least a few years back when I did it. And having some html skill didn't hurt either. Just enough to fix the page when the content management tool did something funny

By: TJ Dietderich

TJ Dietderich — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:56:06 +0000

Oh no! How awful.