Top hats and typos: Where proofreading fits into the editorial process and why

Do you remember that song “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails”?

Fred Astaire sings about how he’s been invited to a formal event, and he rhapsodizes about getting dressed for it. Specifically, he mentions, in this order,

• Putting on a top hat

• Tying up a white tie

• Brushing off tails

• Duding up a shirt front

• Putting in shirt studs

• Polishing nails

Now, most of us would put the hat on last, not first, but never mind; you can wear it while getting dressed if that floats your boat. But take a moment to notice that he is tying up his white tie before putting in shirt studs.

Even leaving aside the fact that he doesn’t mention things such as pants, there is an order in which one prepares and puts on a suit, and he is definitely getting ahead of it.

Thinking about the order of things led me to thinking about proofreading. Or, specifically, how some people use the term “proofreading.”

You are probably familiar with the very loose use many people make of the term – often, it means “every editorial task that I want you to do, no editorial tasks that I don’t want you to do (notably those that might imply I’m not a good writer or make me do extra work), plus mind-reading to know which is which.”

To some extent, that can be forgiven in the same way that we can forgive non-runners for not knowing that “marathon” means a race of precisely 41.195 kilometers (26 miles 285 yards). But there are people who ought to know better who will still do things such as, evaluating “proofreading” software on the basis of its ability to perform tasks like:

• Giving readability scores

• Analyzing tone and style

• Giving developmental feedback

• Paraphrasing and rewriting

• Translating

That is like asking someone to check if your tie is straight and then expecting them also to be your complete personal wardrobe consultant.

This isn’t a matter of simple hair-splitting, either. The editorial process has many phases, and proofreading is the last. Proofreading is the stage at which, to quote the Chicago Manual of Style (18th edition, 2.2), “the final manuscript has been converted for publication—for example, as a typeset and paginated book,” and now it is time for it “to be checked by the author and any additional proofreaders . . . for errors and inconsistencies.”

And, as paragraph E1.7 in Professional Editorial Standards by Editors Canada’s says, “At all rounds of proofreading, flag or correct egregious errors but refrain from undertaking structural, stylistic or copy editing tasks unless authorized to do so.”

The order of things

So, what are all those stages of editing? Let’s apply them to Fred Astaire:

1. Developmental editing

This is where you’ve got the invite to a party, and you need to sort out what kind of wardrobe you need. Is it a white tie or black tie or semiformal or business attire or beach casual event?

If you don’t have any suitable clothes and you’re going shopping for a whole outfit, this is what the wardrobe consultant at the store will work out with you. And in a book, it’s determining who your audience is, what they’ll get from your book, how long a book, and in what style it will be. These things get you writing, putting together a first draft. Like laying out a provisional set of clothes.

2. Structural editing

Now you have clothes laid out, but do you have all the clothes you need? Hat, tie, coat, sure – but also shoes, socks, pants, shirt, and perhaps cufflinks, studs, waistcoat, or cummerbund.

It all depends on the kind of outfit that is required and making sure they’re all set out in the right order for you to put them on. With a book, it means looking at how the book flows, whether pieces of it need to be in a different order, and whether chunks need to be added or removed.

3. Substantive editing

This is sometimes done in the same phase as the structural editing, and can also include or overlap with what is called stylistic editing. If you’re dressing Fred Astaire, it means looking at the pants and saying, “They have satin stripes: That’s for a tuxedo, and this is a white tie event; get the ones without stripes.” It means looking at the cummerbund and saying, “No, you need a waistcoat to go with your tails.” It means making sure that this shirt that needs studs has studs, and specifically the right color (white or pearl for white tie and tails). It may mean saying, “This is a clip-on tie and, at an event like this, it could make you look like staff. Do you have a real bow tie, and do you know how to tie it?”

And in a book, it means making sure everything makes sense together, flows well, takes the right tone, and corresponds with the facts of the real world.

4. Copyediting

This is a close-up tidy-up and consistency pass, with an eye to clarity and effectiveness. It’s often what people have in mind when they say “proofread,” and proofreading can repeat some of the copyediting work – but in a limited way.

For Fred Astaire, it means making sure that everything is the right size, cut, and that it all goes together – the pants and coat are the same kind of fabric with the same shade of black, all the shirt studs are there, the shirt collar has tabs in it, and the shoes are shiny.

For your book, it means making sure that the grammar and other points of style are appropriate and consistent – which, by the way, is different from making sure that it’s all accorded with the strictest “proper grammar.” After all, if your event is not a white tie event but rather a casual beachwear event, you do not want a starched shirt and white tie, and likewise, the characters in a novel should probably not all speak like a retired English teacher.

5. Proofreading

This (at last!) is the phase that happens after the text has been laid out on the book or magazine pages, or set up for publishing on the website. For Fred Astaire, it’s the last check after he’s put all the clothes on. Is the tie straight? (Is it the right tie? Last chance to make sure it is!) Is the hat on straight? (Wait, is it too small? Ugh – go find one that fits!) Are the collar tabs in now? Are the cufflinks the right ones? Is the shirt tucked in tidily? Are the shoes tied? And then, after all these things have been “fixed,” checking to make sure they actually have been fixed.

And for your book, it means… well, let’s quote Editors Canada:

• E1.4: “In the first round of proofreading, read the material word by word and scrutinize visual elements as the task requires, comparing it with the edited copy if supplied.”

• E1.5: “In each subsequent round of proofreading, refrain from reading the entire text (unless instructed to do so) but check that all changes have been made as requested and that they do not introduce new problems (e.g., check line and page breaks, text flow, visual elements, table of contents, navigation bar).”

• E1.6: “Incorporate alterations from authors and other individuals, using judgment and tact, ensuring that the changes are easy to spot. Where comments conflict, use judgment or consult the project owner to mark appropriate alterations.”

Why it matters

Being clear about what phase of the project you’re in matters. Otherwise, you could be standing in front of the mirror in a top hat, white tie, and tails, but still holding your shirt in your hands and without pants anywhere in sight. And nobody wants that.

And likewise, it matters to be clear about what you’re expecting from your editing software. Some phases of the process involve the kind of judgment that is best left to experienced human minds. Sure, you could turn to software for personal wardrobe consulting, but you won’t get a distinctive, engaging individual style; you’ll end up with the same outdated trends as everyone else, and you might end up wearing white tie to the beach.

And likewise, developmental, substantive, and stylistic feedback from software is, at best, going to make your work very average, and at worst it might point you in the wrong direction.

On the other hand, some editorial phases – the “collar-checking” and “tie-straightening” ones that involve more strictly defined tasks to ensure consistency, adherence to style, and execution of requested changes – can be aided considerably by software that will lend you an extra pair of eyes.

This is why so many professional copyeditors and proofreaders – actual proofreaders, doing actual proofreading – use PerfectIt. It’s the Word add-in that helps you make sure that specific points of style throughout your document are consistent with your chosen style. And if it were working with Fred Astaire, it could tell him if one of his cufflinks is not like the other. Something small that may have gone unnoticed by Fred, but have been a glaring oversight by someone at this fancy party.

If you don’t yet use PerfectIt to help with your copyediting and proofreading passes, download our free trial.