12d • Discussion
Copy Editing Is More Than Fixing Grammar
There's a common misconception that copy editing means someone goes through your manuscript and fixes commas.
That's only part of it.
Copy editing also looks for consistency and correctness throughout the manuscript.
For example:
Character names
Is it "Katherine" throughout the book, or does she mysteriously become "Catherine" halfway through?
Capitalization
Are terms consistently capitalized?
Numbers
Are numbers written consistently according to the chosen style?
Dialogue punctuation
Are quotation marks, commas, and dialogue tags handled consistently?
Timeline
Does a character leave the house at 8:00 AM in one chapter and somehow arrive somewhere 20 minutes away at 7:45 AM?
Facts
Does the manuscript contradict itself?
These errors can be surprisingly easy for the author to miss because your brain already knows what you meant to write.
That's one reason reading your own manuscript repeatedly doesn't always reveal every problem.
A useful revision trick:
After you've finished your manuscript, create a simple **style sheet**.
Track:
• Character names
• Places
• Important dates
• Spellings
• Capitalization choices
• Timeline details
• Recurring terminology
It becomes your manuscript's consistency checklist.
Question:
Have you ever spotted a continuity mistake in your own manuscript only after thinking you were completely finished?
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Copy Editing Is More Than Fixing Grammar
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