Proofread vs. Editing
Charlotte Booth • 31 May 2024
The Difference Between Editing and Proofreading
I'm often surprised when speaking to potential clients that they are sometimes hazy on the difference, and expect an edit for the price of a proofread. Or vice versa.
So, what's the difference?
There is a big difference, actually, even though they can both be done at the same time.
Let's start with editing.
When I receive writing to be edited this is a major piece of work. As not only am I looking for spelling errors, erroneous punctuation and dubious grammar I am also looking for consistency, how well the text reads as well as rudimentary fact checking, asking questions raised by the content and checking general readability of the text.
Depending on the text, editing can be a very long-winded, in-depth piece of work and can involve restructuring, asking for explanations, and expansions on ideas as well as calling out bits that don't make sense or appear to have no point. As well as picking up on spelling and grammar.
Proofreading on the other hand, assumes the editing has been done by this stage, and is a final check for spelling, grammar, punctuation and any glaring inconsistency errors (Suzie or Susie for example). A proofread isn't going to tell you that chapter two doesn't make much sense.
As an example, I used to do proofreading for a vanity press, who charged authors extortionate amounts to print their books for them, whilst paying me peanuts to proofread it. One book was originally written in Korean, and had been translated into English. This would have been fine if the translator had not been using Google Translate. The book made no sense with talk of such things as "flexing arm molluscs" which I'm still not sure what was meant.
I contacted the publisher and explained the problem with numerous examples, suggesting this would require a MAJOR edit, and maybe a re-translation. Her response - "you're paid to proofread so just correct the grammar". Technically she was right, as a proofreader I was there to check the final draft. But, this is impossible in a text where the words make no sense in the order they are in. This book 100% needed editing, not proofreading at this stage.
So, when do you choose an editor and when do you choose a proofreader?
When you have just finished writing your book or text, completed your own checks but need another pair of eyes to go over it, this is when an editor will be great, as they can then pick out all the bits that are weak and guide you into making them better.
When you have received the edit back and made the corrections, then you need a proofread.
A proofread should be the final thing before you publish something or send it out to publishers or clients. No further writing should be done after a proofread, otherwise it will need to be done again.
I hope this has made the difference between proofreading and editing a little clearer. If you have a book manuscript, thesis or essay/blog you would like to be proofread or edited then get in touch. I am always happy to help (as long as Google Translate has not been a major part of the writing process).
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There is nothing more amusing than checking out mediaeval artistic renditions of lions and other heraldic creatures. These beasts, grimacing and gurning are a strange juxtaposition of human, animal and demon and as far from the cute image of Alex from the Madagascar franchise or in fact a real lion as you could possibly get. There are three main reasons mediaeval lions are so ‘bad’ and un-representational; The artists were following a very tight brief. Some of the artists may never have seen a lion, and were following the descriptions they were given. These lions were representing heraldic principals of bravery, nobility and authority; all very human characteristics. When viewed through this lens it becomes more understandable why they look the way they do, but they are still ‘not right’ and not a great tool for learning about lions. Generative AI is very similar to an uninformed but talented mediaeval artist. There is a element of intelligence but at the end of the day it is following a brief, with no actual ‘knowledge’ of the thing it is producing. As an example, if you prompt your generative AI (ChatGPT and the like) to produce a blog for your new product or service, aimed at your ideal customer avatar you will in all likelihood get a mediaeval lion out the other end. Sort of recognisable, and sort of not. This is because AI doesn’t know what a customer is (ideal or otherwise), has no idea what your product or service is and does, and has no true understanding of how this service or product will serve your ideal customer and their needs. Of course, AI is pulling all the information available from the internet to help with its answer but there is no understanding there. There is no determining fact from falsehoods or even which websites are trustworthy and which are not. So, it skims the internet and puts together content which suits the brief as it understands it. This is then when the actual work should start as this content shouldn’t be used in the raw. It should be edited and tweaked by a human who DOES understand the brief, has been a customer (ideal or otherwise) and can imagine what your ideal customer will feel when using your product or services. We are in a world now, where we have generative AI promoting products and services to humans, when it has no concept of what a human is and how it thinks, meaning the marketing department are in fact more important than ever for ensuring content and copy is aimed at humans and human emotions. You could argue that the world would be a more entertaining place if there were more mediaeval lions in it, but it wouldn’t be a great environment for learning, or for basing purchasing decisions on. If you want to maintain the human element in your content, then I would love to help . Explain the brief, your CTA and your ideal client and I will know what I need to ask to get a clear idea before writing. Then you can rest assured your content was written by a human for a human and we can leave the mediaeval lions to the museums.
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