Online Editing Course

Ask any published writer and you will hear that a good editor is not just helpful, but essential. If you aspire to be an editor, this copyediting course will teach you the fundamentals of top-notch editing for both fiction and nonfiction. If you're already working as an editor, you will not only brush up on your skills, but will also learn about recent advances in your chosen profession. If you're a writer, you will learn essential self-editing tools to give your manuscripts the professional look that publishers like to see.

From the language of editing to grammar, punctuation, and syntax to the all-important relationships between editor, author, and publisher, every facet of editing will be explored in this copyeditor course. Online editing is gaining popularity; its complexities will be unraveled and its advantages and pitfalls explored. Can you make a living as an editor? Tips and resources for finding work will be addressed at length. When you finish with this course, you will feel confident enough to tackle even the most complex of manuscripts.

What you will learn

• Examine the roles of the copy editor and other editors who work within the publishing industry
• Utilize the copy editors' symbols, try your hand at editing electronically, and practice editing PDFs
• Discover the tools editors use to produce clarity and consistency
• Apply the basics of grammar and punctuation that copy editors need to know
• Learn to apply editing rules and guidelines for spelling, capitalization, and number usage
• Recognize the rules governing abbreviations and hyphens, and discover the basics of bibliographies and copyright law
• Identify the editing needs of tables, charts, and photos, and discover the components of front and back matter
• Explore ways to build and maintain good editor-author-publisher relationships

How you will benefit

• Take steps to establish an editing career
• Become more confident in your ability to quickly and accurately edit any type of document
• Learn skills that can help you become a better writer and communicator

Outline

What Editors Do

Have you ever wondered just what editors do with writers' manuscripts? In this first lesson, you will find out. You will learn about the different types of editors—copy editors, acquisition editors, developmental editors, production editors, and more—and exactly what their jobs entail.

The Mechanics of Copyediting

If you've ever seen a document that an editor has marked up, you probably wondered what all those symbols meant. This lesson focuses on traditional copy editors' marks and how to use them. By the end of the lesson, you will have a solid foundation for editing both on a paper manuscript and on-screen.

Tools to Increase Accuracy

Editors must focus on many details to produce a final manuscript that's as error-free as possible. This lesson covers the tools used to catch inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, and more. By the end of the lesson, you will have a clear understanding of what tools you need to edit effectively and efficiently.

Grammar and Punctuation

This lesson will offer a refresher on the basics of grammar and punctuation as well as reveal some of the more common related problems that arise in writing. You will come away with a solid understanding of the basic grammar principles as they apply to copyediting.

Spelling, Capitalization, and Numbers

This lesson takes you into the world of spelling, capitalization, and numbers. Many people are surprised to learn that there are actually rules governing how words are spelled and capitalized, and whether numbers should be spelled out or in digit form.

Syntax and Style

This lesson explores all the writing pitfalls that can leave readers in a state of confusion. You will learn to recognize and fix garbled syntax, mixed metaphors, nominals, redundancies, and much more. You will also learn how to untangle overly wordy sentences and create parallel structure.

Abbreviations and Hyphens, Bibliographies and Copyright Law

When is it appropriate to use an abbreviation? When should you hyphenate words? Most people have a general knowledge of abbreviations and hyphens, but when it comes time to actually use them, they can be mystifying. This lesson examines the rules that guide their use.

Photos and Tables, Front and Back Matter

In this lesson, you will learn how to edit such peripheral material as tables, charts, photos, and captions. If you've ever seen a caption that didn't fit the photo it was describing, you will understand the need for this extra scrutiny. You will learn the function of the foreword, table of contents, index, and many more.

Fiction Editing

Every novel is different, and a good fiction editor will help guide the author to take the story where it wants to go. This lesson defines narrative summary, exposition, point of view, and character arcs. By the end of the lesson, you should have the necessary tools to tackle fiction editing.

The Editor-Author-Publisher Relationship

This lesson examines how to keep life harmonious within the author-editor-publisher relationship. Writers will be able to see things from the editor's perspective, and editors will learn how it feels to be in the author's shoes. Both of you will gain insight as well as a good brush-up of your people skills.

Word Usage

After 10 lessons of absorbing the technical elements of editing, it's time to have some fun. This lesson explores the intricacies, inconsistencies, and irregularities in the English language. You will learn about oddball words and phrases, the dos and don'ts of usage, and why language is like a puzzle.

Finding Work as an Editor

This might be the most important lesson of all. In this lesson, you will learn how to find work as an editor. Whether you want to begin a freelance career or are interested in a staff position, all the help and advice you will need to achieve your goals is in this lesson.

Prerequisites:

Although this course will teach English grammar, punctuation, and style, you must be fluent in English and have a better-than-average spelling ability.