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Good morning everyone and welcome to the second last Tuesday in #greenflagmonth! How is the month going for you and what green flags have you given and received? Share with us on our socials.
Today’s post focusses on copy-editing and the #greenflag of ensuring your written presentation looks professional and business-like.
At a local community business meeting I was asked the following question: “What exactly IS copy-editing?” And upon further investigation, it became clear that the actual question revolved around ‘What is COPY?’
This took me back a bit. I was under the illusion that everyone knows what copy, and by extension, copy-editing, are. Of course, this is not true, and I decided to do a detailed post answering these two questions.
What is copy?
COPY, essentially, refers to a wide range of written material:
- Website content: The more detailed your website, the easier it is for clients to find you, inform themselves, and make decisions. There are various elements that a website should contain – a home page, pages detailing your services, pricing options, how to contact you, etc. Some websites will have detailed lists of products. All of this has to be well written and accurate to attract the right clientele. A poorly presented site, filled with grammatical and spelling errors, and factual inaccuracies, will put clients off and may give you a reputation of being inaccurate and sloppy.
- Social media: After your website, social media is probably where you are most visible. Punchy, informative, up to date material is presented here regularly. It needs to be accurate and well-written in order to get stakeholders to become invested. The different social media platforms need to be handled differently, yet a uniform thread needs to connect them all. If the person managing your social media is not skilled with words, this can be off-putting to clients.
- Marketing material:
- Newsletters: Brochures, PDFs, JPEGs for advertorial distribution need to be accurate, both grammatically and factually.
- Newsletters: You may release a newsletter every few months. The same applies to this as to websites and social media. It needs to be presented professional and look good to the receiver.
- Corporate publications: Some corporates release very informative corporate publications every few months. Articles and materials for this are extensively researched, experts give input – all to produce an informative piece which provides value to the end reader.
- Reports – details of your recent achievements and activities are provided to end users.
What is copy-editing?
COPY-EDITING refers to the professional application of an editorial process to ensure that no grammatical errors remain in these pieces of written COPY when they go for publication or for submission to the end user.
It is a detailed scrutiny of the copy, focussed on the readability, accuracy of fact and grammar.
One of the reasons I specifically call it COPY-EDITING is to avoid confusion: there are other forms of editing – video editing, etc. What we do is editing of the written word.
Who needs an editor:
- A person whose skills lie more in other areas than in writing, particularly if they are sending out copy to clients or external parties.
- A person who has become tired while writing and working – ever experienced words ‘swimming’ in front of your eyes?
- A person under pressure to get the work out accurately and timeously
- Students and others requiring the veracity of a professional person on their work
- And more
If you have any further questions, or to retain my services as an editor or writer, please contact me.
Regards,
Gaynor Paynter
Editor / Transcriber / Business Services
To retain my services as a writer, copy-editor or a variety of other disciplines, click here.