Editing & Curating Complex Copy

Sample of Light editing and proofreading
Sample 1: Light editing and proofreading
a sample of a heavily-edited document
Sample 2: Heavy line editing

Editing

Part of the services I offer my clients as a content designer is the extensive editing of articles.

Editing can be as simple as proofreading for spelling errors and extend to heavier copyediting, deep-dive line editing that includes fine-tuning the tone and style of the writer while keeping his/her voice or even editing AI-created content.

Here are the various editing types and stages that I perform (online and offline):

Content Editing (sections): Full content editing; smoothing content/theme/character flow and structure; moving/deleting entire sections and paragraphs

Line Editing (paragraphs/sentences): Substantive, detailed stylistic content edits (i.e., flawed cliché and metaphor usage, jargon); line-by-line reviews, focusing on each word and tightening sentences, structure and clarity

Copyediting (words): Meticulously combing through the copy for spelling/punctuation/grammar/clarity/accuracy issues that slipped through Line Editing; checking against style guides; assessing word choices

Proofreading (quality control): Reading through the finished, designed and formatted printed work (or just before going live with a webpage) for final review before publication/launch. The last defence against any errors. Includes layout issues, page numbering, consistency in formatting (headlines, subheads, captions, links), line breaks and more.

AI-created content editing (quality control): This includes all the above but goes even deeper into the content itself. What I offer is what AI utterly lacks: emotional intelligence, creativity, imagination, analytical thinking, empathy, inquiry and critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, human judgment, the ability to see nuances and the sensitivity to discern biases and assumptions. Editing AI-created content includes scrutinizing the source material and giving it attribution; fact-checking any data, statistics, quotes and dates for accuracy; eliminating biases, assumptions and cliches; checking for plagiarism; adjusting tone and voice to the intended audience; editing for clarity, coherence, content flow, authenticity, comprehensiveness, logic and situational context.


Click on sample 1 for an edited and unedited version of an article that required simple copyediting/proofreading.

 

Click on sample 2 to see an example of heavy line editing. A German writer wrote this blog post in English, which required extensive editing to adapt it to native English speakers.

Curated and Rewritten: Asthma & Chirporactic Care
Curated and Rewritten: Asthma & Chirporactic Care
Medical Research on Asthma & Chiropractic Care
Source: Medical Research on Asthma & Chiropractic Care
Curated and Rewritten: Crying Babies & Chiropractic Care
Curated and Rewritten: Crying Babies & Chiropractic Care
Medical Research on Babies & Chiropractic Care
Source: Medical Research on Babies & Chiropractic Care

Curating

Some of my clients write long articles or research papers on highly complex and specific topics that need to be curated and adapted to a larger audience. This requires working through extensive source materials, usually tech- or medical-related, and extensive research. I rewrite the material concisely and clearly to reach a wider audience that might not know the topic.

Here are two examples. First is a curated medical article about asthma and chiropractic care; underneath is a link to the source material, a medical research study.

The second is another curated medical article about crying babies and chiropractic care; beneath that is a link to the source material, a medical research paper.

 

Click on each image to view the curated texts and their source materials.

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