Copyeditor's Checklist

I’ve seen a lot of questions asking about the difference between a line editor and a copyeditor. Although I’m oversimplifying a bit, a line editor will actually rewrite your content whereas a copyeditor typically will not. There are other areas where a copyeditor excels.

Copyeditors ensure consistency with the house or preferred style guide, dictionary, and internal consistency (or factual, in nonfiction works). They go beyond a proofreader by looking at things that, while not grammatically wrong, may confuse or annoy the reader.

One popular example is the word "gray" or "grey." Most dictionaries and style guides equally recognize both spellings. Unless the publisher specifies, it'll be up to the author how it's spelled. But, sometimes authors can be inconsistent.

Many copyeditors have a checklist of things to look out for beyond spelling and punctuation conventions. Of course, every editor has their own list, and lists may differ per author, publishing house, or project, but here are a few examples you’re likely to see on every list.

• Inappropriate verb tense shifts
  • This is most common when the writer is working in the present tense. We’re used to stories being told in the past tense so it’s easy to slip up.
• Multiple sentences in a row starting with the same word
• Sentences lacking parallelism
  • “I like to pet my cats and watching Law & Order.” vs “I like to pet my cats and watch Law & Order.”
• Overuse of adverbs modifying weak verbs
  • Instead of “She spoke quietly” or “He walked very quietly” a copyeditor may suggest “She whispered” or “He crept”. For cases like “She whispered quietly” see the bullet on textual redundancy.
• Inappropriate use of the word “suddenly”
  • It’s tempting for newer authors to rely on “suddenly” to startle or surprise the reader, but much more effective to get right into the action.
• Overuse of expletive sentences
  • Sentences that start with “There is” or “There are”
• Overuse or inappropriate use of the passive voice
  • This is a complex and highly subjective matter. I want to go on record as saying that the passive voice doesn't bother me nearly as much as many copyeditors. In academia, or when the focus of the sentence shouldn’t be on the subject, the passive voice is often preferred.
• Using quotation marks for emphasis
  • I’m not sure when people started doing this or why, but I find it an especially baffling quirk.
• Acronyms without clarification (unless they have been generally accepted as words or are widely known)
• Jargon (unless appropriate for the audience level or purposefully used for characterization)
• Overly long sentences or paragraphs
• Textual redundancy
  • “She nodded her head” would become “She nodded” because, under normal circumstances, you can’t nod anything other than your head.
• Awkward text