Mastering self-editing: Tips to copy edit like a pro

Obviously, when it comes to copy editing, there's a reason we hire things out. Having fresh eyes on a project is more likely to catch errors than our own combing the same manuscript for the millionth time. In addition, editors are - typically - professionally trained in some way. (I've taken multiple courses from different schools to offer my professional services, for example.)

But my favourite thing about self-publishing is accessibility for a wider audience, and sometimes that means opening financial barriers. Not everyone can afford to hire multi-level editing every release.

While this post won't be all-encompassing by any means, I have compiled some of the most important details that should help you self-copy-edit.

An intro to copy editing

So, what is copy editing? Usually, it's the third stage of editing that focuses on grammar, spelling, punctuation, syntax, etc. (First comes developmental - big picture plot-level items, then line editing - prose, flow, understandability on a sentence-by-sentence basis.)

Copy editors are grammar pros. As the final edit before proofreading, it sets up a document for typesetting (preparing the manuscript to be formed into an actual book with margins, fonts, page numbers, etc.). It's almost the last line of defense, and often one of the last times an author will actually work on the book themselves.

Copy editing is the stage that, if not done properly, readers are most likely to pick up on errors. Things like missing punctuation or a misspelled word.

The tricky thing to remember here is that it's not as cut-and-dry as it may seem. Most copy editors work with some form of style guide - or document specific to a publishing house or author that sets the rules for that edit (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago). This is because grammar isn't universal. What might be true in the United States with APA format doesn't translate to Canadian English and Chicago Manual Style. (It's also the reason why so many people online get hung up on what's "proper" when they're having arguments in essentially different languages without realizing it.) Take the term "copy edit" as an example. This term can be spelled copy edit (two words), copyedit (one word), or copy-edit (hyphenated) depending on the context, and all are correct.

What's most important, more than any one grammar rule or guideline, is that the book is consistent with itself.

Consistency in a novel

One of the biggest benefits of fiction is that it's gifted a lot of leeway when it comes to proper grammar and style guides. A lot of what we see in commercial fiction doesn't fit snugly into one style guide or another. It's why each publishing house (Bloomsbury, Simon & Schuster, etc.) has their own guide.

The key to developing consistency throughout our own work, is to make our own rules - to a degree.

When I'm conducting a professional edit, I start in two places:

1. Chicago Manual of Style

2. What the author is already doing most frequently

A great example of this is commas between dialogue. Based on Chicago, the following example is "incorrect".

"I can't believe it," she shook her head vigorously, "that he would even consider such a thing."

When action interrupts dialogue, Chicago states that the punctuation surrounding it should be em-dashes or re-written to accommodate a speech tag, then action.

"I can't believe it"—she shook her head vigorously—"that he would even consider such a thing."

"I can't believe it," she said, shaking her head vigorously. "That he would even consider such a thing."

However, I've worked with numerous authors who use commas consistently between dialogue, so I add their commonalities to my guide for their edit. All that matters is that it's the same whenever that rule comes up.

How to copy edit like an editor

So, what does that mean? Well, here are my suggestions for things to look out for while copy editing.

1. Language

   • As someone writing in English, I'll use it as my example here. The first step in copy editing is to choose which language your book will be in. Though US, British, Canadian, etc. English are all similar, they have different dictionaries, grammar rules, and common phrasing that make it integral for consistency. This becomes especially apparent in spelling. British English uses centre over center, contrary to US English. Canadian English usually falls somewhere in the middle, taking some spellings from the US and some from Britain.

   • Choose your language, set your word processor to that language, and check throughout for common words and phrasing that doesn't fit your chosen language.

2. Dictionary

   • Similar to choosing your language, choose your corresponding dictionary. As a reference, Merriam Webster is often used in the US, Oxford in the UK, and Macquarie in Australia. When you're unsure if a word is spelled correctly, check it against the appropriate dictionary to your chosen language.

3. Style Guide

   • Next, choose which style guide you'd like to reference. For fiction in North America, Chicago Manual is typically used as a starting place. You can also Google most of your questions about this style guide's rules and get specific examples without having to purchase a copy or peruse thousands of pages to find whether you should be using a semi-colon in that one sentence.

4. Common punctuation rules

   • Choose how you want to use common punctuation (you can search this in your style guide to start). Some common examples have to do with spaces around certain items like em-dashes (—) or ellipses (...). Some books will have a space on both sides of these punctuation, some only one side, and some on neither side. (e.g., Mary — dancing, Mary —dancing, Mary—dancing). You want to make sure that whatever you choose, you use it that way throughout the whole book.

   • Making rules for the following will give you a good starting point, and then you can add to this list as you find others that come up:

     • Em-dashes

     • En-dashes

     • Hyphens

     • Ellipses

     • Commas

     • Plural possessive apostrophes (e.g., Jones's or Jones')

     • Colons

     • Quotations (regarding dialogue, dialogue tags, interruptions, and air quotes)

5. Manuscript-specific glossary

   • While it's good to know the language and the dictionary you're working with, sometimes you'll want to take certain spellings from one place and some from another. If you're writing in fantasy, you may also have made-up words. It's important to ensure that every time that word is used, it's spelled the same way. For this reason, I recommend keeping a series-specific glossary to keep track of all the words that may be exceptions to traditional rules.

6. Keep a document for future books

   • While these guidelines are helpful for each book individually, it's even more helpful for writing series. If you make this guide for Book One, you already have a template for every other book that follows (meaning less work and decisions down the line). This is also super helpful if you end up hiring a proofreader because you can share your style guide with them to ensure that they're reading and editing for the proper rules. (Because the last thing we want is to choose how we want something to look only to have those decisions removed in final passes.)

Bonus tips

If all of this is sounding overwhelming (and like "how in the world do we catch all those details!?"), there are a few tricks to catching as many as possible.

In both Word and Google Docs, the Find and Replace tool will become your best friend (or Ctrl + H). This tool will open a pop-up window in which you can enter what you're looking for (like the word "centre") and it will also ask what you want to replace that word with (like "center"). It gives you the option to make global changes with a click - so changing every instance that word appears in your document at once - or to go through instance-by-instance by hitting the "Next" button with "Replace".

While it may seem like it's saving time by hitting "Replace All", BE WARY. This is a ridiculous example, but if your Find and Replace search was something like Find "the" and Replace with "there", the "Replace All" option would change every occurrence of the combination t-h-e. Meaning words like theory would become thereory, or theater would become thereater.

So it may take a bit longer, but it's often better to go one-by-one to save the headache later.

There are a bunch of things I wasn't able to cover here, but this gives a great starting point to help you along your copy editing journey. And, if this all sounds like too much, you're welcome to reach out to me for my Close Editing services through Author's Own Publishing! I'd be happy to help tidy your manuscript. You can contact me here.

I'd also recommend finding beta readers who are willing to help catch these small things. Having just the right amount of eyes on a project can go a long way to making it look as professional as possible.

Happy writing,

Erin