“Knowing how to tinker with a broken piece of prose until it hums is a source of contentment known by all who have mastered a worthy craft.”
COPY EDIT
Medium touch.
Commonly confused with proofreading, copy editing strives for accuracy, consistency, and completeness.
DEVELOPMENTAL edit
Heavy lifting.
Not for the weak at heart but will revive a text from its shadows. Also known as substantive editing, manuscript editing, content editing, or structural editing.
proofread
The lightest touch.
After a text has already been copyedited and corrected, proofreading examines text in its “final format,” correcting errors before the text goes to print.