Structural editing involves ensuring your document or content makes sense at a macro level. It requires understanding what your reader most wants to know, or to be able to do with, the information you’re sharing. Then it requires prioritising that information.
Because structural editing often involves adding, deleting or moving large chunks of text, it always takes place first. A structural edit ensures you:
Copyediting involves making sure your document reads smoothly, in language your ideal reader uses naturally.
Because the “right” way to copyedit any given sentence or paragraph depends on everything that comes before it, copyediting happens after structural editing is complete.
A thorough copyedit ensures you:
Proofreading may take place in a Word document, PDF or webpage. But regardless of format, it should always be the last step before you release your document or text into the world. That’s because it involves surface-level checks that can only take place once all structural editing, copyediting and design are complete.
Standard proofreading ensures a professional document by going beyond simply fixing spelling mistakes, grammar issues and other typos. It also involves checking for:
You can also request specialist proofreading checks such as ensuring that all:
While I focus mostly on editing these days, I started my “wordcrafting career” as an in-house copywriter for a multinational FMCG company. In the 15+ years since I left that job, I’ve written compelling content and copy for businesses, non-profits and government organisations.
Documents I’ve written – either individually or as part of a team – include:
Sometimes you may not want a full edit. Perhaps you’re on a tight budget. Maybe you’re keen to learn more about editing so you can do it yourself in future.
Either way, you need a professional to check what you’ve written, flag the biggest plain or inclusive language issues and improvement opportunities, and then just let you get on with it.
I have experience professionally reviewing and providing feedback on:
Finally, sometimes you need specialist document services that don’t come under the “standard editing” umbrella. I can provide the following as either standalone services or – by discussion – within an overall editing package:
Super-speedy, super-reliable and super-friendly to boot
I needed fast-turnaround help to edit a 10,000-word white paper I’d co-authored for a client. With a looming deadline, I really needed a fresh set of eyes to help me deliver a high-quality, typo-free document.
Tanja proofread the entire white paper, meticulously catching every typo, inconsistency and grammar mistake. She also helped me improve the structure and flow of the document. And she did it all within 24 hours of me contacting her.
Her work gave me the peace-of-mind and confidence of knowing the document I handed my client was polished, professional, and written in clear, concise, consistent language. She was super-speedy, super-reliable and super-friendly to boot.
I’m stoked to have found someone I can trust to pull out any weeds in my writing. I definitely hope to use Tanja’s services again.
Carla Ellerby, Composed Communication
