Wish To Become An Editor But Don’T Know The Difference Between Content Editor And Copy Editor?

Know here

What actually is Content Editing?

Content Editing also is known asSubstantive or Developmental Editing is a type of editing in which a

person is given the written stories of a lot of Writers and Story Writers and he then has to correct

them by looking for any grammatical mistakes or any missing punctuations in that copy.

Basically, the work of a Content Editor is that he has to look that the copy is worth reading so that a

lot of traffic can be gained on that the site and more and more people prefer to read it.

Also, he has to see that the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) the score has been met by the website

which is very important from the technical side as it enhances the reader's readability on the

website.

A content editor makes sure that the manuscript is well-written and worth readable.

A content editor may review and return the manuscript to the writer with suggestions to re-write,

move, delete or add sections, or perhaps she will offer to do that work herself.

Content editing is more subjective than other forms of editing, involving a lot of thought and

decision-making, whereas copy editing and proofreading is more rule-based.

What is Copy Editing?

A copy editor will focus on:

Syntax,

sentence structure,

accurate word choices,

verb tense,

capitalization,

punctuation,

missed and repeated words,

paragraph and sentence length

A copy editor may suggest reorganizing titles or subheads.

A copy editor will prepare a style sheet of word preferences and specific rules for the manuscript.

For instance, the author and copy editor may decide on a preferred spelling for idiosyncratic words,

proper names, spelling out numbers, and using serial commas.

This style sheet will then be passed on to the proof-reader to maintain consistency.

Analyzing the difference between the two

There is often confusion between the terms copy editing and content editing.

At times one is taken to mean the other and at other times they are taken to mean one and the

same thing.

While the fact is, they are two different things.

Copy editing is checking a copy for spelling, capitalization, punctuation, verb tenses and other

grammatical errors.

It also involves checking for continuity, sentence structure, paragraph lengths, word choices, missed

words, and the like.

In other words, copy editing involves correcting the language of the text.

Content editing as the name implies involves checking the content.

It checks the content for factual errors, contradictions, and inconsistencies.

If the content is fictional, it checks for discrepancies in the plot, character, or dialogue.

It checks whether the theme has been developed (hence developmental editing) properly, or

whether the subplots have been well integrated into the storyline. In other words, content editing

evaluates the content in detail.

In the publishing industry, a manuscript first goes to a content editor who evaluates the content, and

if there is the need, suggests changes to the writer.

The writer, with the help of the content editor, then re-writes the parts that need change.

Once the content editor is satisfied and sure that the text will grab the attention of the reader, the

manuscript goes to the copy editor.

Sometimes the same person does both the content editing and the copy editing, but in either case,

copyediting is the final stage before the manuscript goes to print.

Career Aspect in this field

There are a lot of people who aspire to become content writers/ copy editors and convey their

thoughts to a large number of audience.

Well, this is a very good field to pursue.

You can also do freelancing in this field and earn a living by just sit back and relax the rule.

This field can keep your mind in function and activated mode all the time as it requires a lot of

imagination work to be done.

So if you are really interested to be a part of this content writing community you can pursue your

talent by getting yourself placed with a good and reputed organization.