Lap Cat Editing

If you're nervous about working with an editor, don't be. I recently came back from my first Editors Canada conference in Halifax, and the attendees were the most friendly and welcoming group of people I have ever had the pleasure to meet.

Hats off to the conference organizers, as well, for making it easy for the introverts with organized lunch groups, double-sided name tags (no chance of missing someone's name because their tag is flipped!), and small group introductions before the conference began. Great ideas to keep in mind for your next conference!

I am a little embarrassed to admit that I had never heard of an em dash before I started learning about editing. I knew how to use them—I just didn't know that they had a special name and that they were supposed to look different from any other dash.

With all the hype about em dashes as a sign of AI-generated writing, you've probably heard of an em dash by now. But do you know the difference between an em dash and an en dash? And do you know how to make one on your computer?

There are, in fact, three specific types of dashes in common use:

👉 Hyphen: the smallest dash (the one you get when you hit the "dash" key on your keyboard), used to separate numbers and letters (506-123-4567) or to join the parts of a compound word.

👉 En dash: the middle child, so named because it is approximately the width of the letter n; used primarily for indicating number ranges, meaning "up to and including" (e.g.,1999–2005, chapters 4–6).

👉 Em dash: the longest of the three dashes, approximately the width of the letter m; used in place of other punctuation for specific effect (a longer pause than a comma, but more continuity than a colon or parentheses). Em dashes are usually used either to set off an interjection or aside in the middle of a sentence or to add an additional thought or explanation at the end. They can also be used to show an interruption in dialogue ("I told her—" / "Told her what?").

Correct use of dashes is one of the things that copy editors (and astute readers) are on the lookout for. Want to up your writing game? Get your dashes right. You can save the cheat sheet below for future reference.

(And don't let AI talk dissuade you from using em dashes. Just use them properly and in moderation!)

Yesterday was a big day for me: I submitted my final piece of work towards my SFU Editing Certificate.

After four years of hard work, I am done.

But one of the things I have learned is that an editor is never done learning.

Partly because of the kind of people who are drawn to the editing profession, which provides endless opportunities to learn new things.

And partly because the context in which we edit is always changing. The influx of AI tools and writing is only the latest example (albeit a significant one). Evolving copyright laws is another.

Here are some other things I've learned about editing and editors over the past few years:

💡 Editors come at the profession from all walks of life, and part of their expertise comes from their peripheral knowledge and experience. Not many people become editors straight out of high school.

💡 Editing is part learned, part intuitive. Just like some people are gifted in music or art or sales, editors have a natural affinity for language that can't be entirely taught.

💡 Editing involves far more than correcting grammar and spelling mistakes. Editors exercise a lot of creativity and judgment in finding ways to improve a piece of writing without undermining the author's voice.

💡 Editing is as much as about relationships as it is about words. Writing is personal, and editors understand that.

💡 It's really hard to edit your own work, even when you're a trained editor!

I didn't mean to become an editor when I started the SFU program. I was just interested in adding to my toolbox of language skills, but I enjoyed it so much that I kept going. And I'm glad I did. When my circumstances changed and I had to reorient my career, I was almost grateful for the opportunity to dive into editing full time. It's a privilege to love what you do.

It's been a busy couple of weeks between wrapping up client projects and kicking off my final project for the SFU Editing Certificate.

But I didn't want to forget about the last stage of editing—or rather the first.

If you've been following along the last few weeks, you'll know that I have been walking through the four key stages of editing backwards. Why backwards? Because the end of the editing process—copy editing and proofreading—is what people know best.

In my last post, I talked about stylistic editing, where meaning and flow get refined. Today, we have arrived at the beginning: structural editing.

When we write our first draft, or even an outline, our goal is often just to get our ideas out on paper. The organization isn't perfect. Some ideas might need fleshing out while others may have received too much attention. And we are often focused more on what WE want to say than on what our audience needs to hear. The first draft isn't perfect, but it's a necessary first step to getting where you want to go.

Editing starts here. You've probably done it many times without putting a name to it.

Structural editing is concerned with two things:
🔨 effective organization
🔨 suitable and relevant content

It considers questions like...
* Do the ideas flow logically?
* What headings would help the reader navigate the document?
* Does text need to be cut or expanded?
* Does the audience need all the content? Does the content give them everything they need?
* Would some text be more effective as a table or infographic?
* Where should visuals and sidebars go?

Structural editing is about ensuring a solid frame for your writing piece before you start worrying about paint colours. Spelling mistakes or inconsistent use of hyphens can be a distraction and may undermine the reader's respect for the author or the argument. But if your ideas aren't well organized, the document is hard to navigate, or important content is missing, your reader isn't going to care that every comma is in the right place.

The most important thing to understand about the editing process is that it is, indeed, a process. Trying to revise a draft for big-picture elements like logic and overall content at the same time as you correct spelling and grammar can be overwhelming—and a waste of time and money.

Working backwards through the process, I have already talked about copy editing and proofreading, which deal with the finer details near the end of the editing journey.

You may be less familiar with stylistic editing. In stylistic editing, we are moving away from the more rules-based editing that many people are familiar with towards a greater reliance on editorial judgment. At this point, the overall structure and content have been nailed down, but there is still room for refinement at the sentence and paragraph level.

A stylistic editor is primarily concerned with three things:
👉 clarity: ensuring the meaning is clear and unambiguous
👉 coherence and flow: ensuring that the argument is coherent and that the text flows well from one sentence or paragraph to the next
👉 language: eliminating wordiness and clichés, and ensuring that voice, tone, point of view, etc. are consistent and appropriate

A stylistic editor might propose changes to sentence or paragraph construction, validate the relevance of visuals or other supplementary materials, improve transitions, or adjust language that feels out of place or inappropriate for the audience. A stylistic editor can also advise on the application of conscious and plain language principles.

While stylistic editing is identified as a separate part of the editing process, it is often combined with either structural or copy editing. That doesn't mean you should skip it, though. If you're expecting your structural or copy editor to also look at stylistic elements, make sure you tell them. Your editor will need to account for the extra time and any additional steps in their own process as they develop an estimate for your project.

Last week, we talked about proofreading as the final stage of editing, which happens AFTER layout and formatting.

Copy editing (or copyediting, if you prefer) is the last stage of editing BEFORE you format or otherwise finalize your document (or webpage). It usually happens when there is still time for changes...but not much.

Earlier stages of editing, which we'll get to next, overlook spelling mistakes to focus on the overall content and the way it's presented. At the copy editing stage, we are no longer thinking about what content is appropriate, the best way to organize it, or the most effective way to express an idea. We are making sure that the content you have developed is presented in the best light possible.

This means:
👉 correcting grammar, spelling, usage, and punctuation mistakes
👉 ensuring consistency internally and with the specified style guide
👉 verifying that general information, illustrations, and numbers are accurate
👉 ensuring that quotations are complete, accurate, and properly cited
👉 identifying missing headings, links, captions, etc.
👉 formatting references

Think of it this way: A copy editor can help you clean the house before your in-laws arrive, but they're not going to renovate the kitchen or build you an in-law suite.

A couple of weeks ago, I introduced the four stages of editing. Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to break them down and tell you what each stage involves.

If nothing else, you have likely heard of proofreading. It's often used as a synonym for editing writ-large, although it is anything but.

Proofreading means exactly what the word suggests: "reading the proof." The proof is the pre-press version of a document, laid out to look exactly as it should for publication. Final text, images, headings, captions, headers and footers, page numbers, spacing...it's all there.

A proofreader's job is to carefully review the proof (or the final formatted version of the document) with three main goals in mind:

✔️ confirm that all changes from the last round of copy editing have been implemented
✔️ confirm that no new errors have been introduced during the layout phase (you'd be surprised at how often a paragraph gets dropped or images end up paired with the wrong captions)
✔️ catch any outstanding errors that might have been missed in previous rounds of editing

Proofreading is the LAST stage of editing before publication. In some ways, it is less involved than other stages because, hopefully, there are fewer errors to correct. But at the same time, it is a very IMPORTANT stage of editing because it is the last chance to catch any errors before publication. And there are always a few.

Now that you know what proofreading is, remember these two things:

1️⃣ Proofreading is the last stage of editing, not the only stage. Correcting a proof full of errors can be expensive and frustrating, as every change risks affecting the layout.

2️⃣ Proofreading is important. Don't skip it! There's nothing worse than picking up your order of 2000 brochures from the printer only to discover a missing word on the front page.

Want to know more about the different stages of editing? Check out the Professional Editorial Standards on the Editors Canada website: https://editors.ca/publications/professional-editorial-standards/.

In honour of National Grammar Day last week...

It's common for authors and writers to approach an editor because their manuscript needs editing. But editing is a category of services, not a single service in itself.

Saying "my manuscript needs editing" is a bit like going to a restaurant and ordering "food." You're in the right place, but the waiter is going to have a few questions to figure out exactly what you want to eat.

Editing, very broadly speaking, is the process of revising and improving a text to ensure that it meets the needs and expectations of the audience and that it will achieve its purpose (i.e. the author's goals).

"Process" is the key word here. Editing happens in stages. Simply put, it doesn't make sense to go through a document with a fine-tooth comb to catch every spelling and grammar mistake if you're still adding or cutting content.

Editing is generally thought of as having four discrete stages, although in practice, certain stages (e.g. stylistic and copy editing) may be combined:

* Structural (or developmental) editing
* Stylistic (or line) editing
* copy editing (or copyediting)
* proofreading

The diagram below is my attempt to illustrate the flow of these stages. Note the revision time (that's your job) between each step!

You don't need to hire an editor for each stage, but it is helpful to understand what the stages are to guide your own revision process AND to help you better articulate what kind of editing you need when you do approach an editor.

Stay tuned for more information on what each stage entails in the coming days.

Thanks for reading!

Like with every good business name, there's a story behind "Lap Cat" and my logo.

As you might not be surprised to learn, words matter to me. In this world of information overload, I try to make every word count—including my business name. I wanted a creative, memorable name that would say something about who I am and what I have to offer. But everything I could come up with (including every possible play on words) was already taken.

So my 12-year-old daughter, who is a promising writer herself, took it upon herself to help me out. She presented me with an index card filled on both sides with possible business names. Some were taken. Some didn't quite fit. But "Lap Cat Editing" intrigued me.

My daughter was thinking about our five cats. But when I googled "lap cat," the search results were overwhelmingly to do with building trust.

Writing can be deeply personal, and putting your writing into someone else's hands for them to critique it can be downright terrifying. A good editor understands this and works hard to earn and maintain their client's trust. A bit like when you (if you're a cat person) work to convince a cat that they're safe to settle on your lap.

Once I had the name locked down, my daughter took to Canva and spent days playing with designs until we landed on "the one."

I like doing things myself, but I also recognize the value of a professional touch, so I sent our version off to my trusted graphic designer, who took a good logo and made it great (much like an editor can do with your draft!).

The moral of the story? Kids are pretty smart. And sometimes, when you're stuck, it's worth getting an outside perspective (like that of an editor when you're not sure how to move forward with your writing!).