Editing Tips
Advice on the skills you need as a freelance proofreader and editor. Check out our editing tips and advice to develop your abilities and impress your clients.
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Narrative Structure: What Are the 7 Basic Plots?
Narrative Structure: What Are the 7 Basic Plots?
Oct 21, 2022
Often, the aim of narrative theory is to identify common plots that are used in many stories. One of the most well-known attempts in recent years is Christopher Booker’s 2004 book The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. In this book, Booker proposes that any story will follow one of seven different plots: Understanding […]
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Common Homophone Errors (and How to Avoid Them)
Common Homophone Errors (and How to Avoid Them)
Oct 17, 2022
It’s time for a flashback to elementary school. Remember the unit on homophones, way back when? Homophones are words with the same pronunciation but different meanings and spellings (e.g., “wait” and “weight”). Many people mistake one term for the other when writing homophones. In this post, we’ll look at some of the most common homophone […]
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Titles in Academic Writing
Oct 11, 2022
In academic writing, a strong title hooks the reader, reflects the tone and content of the paper, and contains keywords to increase the paper’s visibility on search engines. If you’re an editor working with academic clients, you may need to highlight issues in their titles and subtitles. Read on for some tips on how to […]
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The Bad Big Wolf? A Proofreader’s Guide to Adjective Order
Oct 08, 2022
If the phrases “black little dress” and “red dry wine” sound strange in your head, you have intrinsic knowledge of English adjective order. When we use multiple adjectives to modify a noun or nouns, they don’t fall into a random sequence. Rather, they follow a pattern based on their function. In fact, most native English […]
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Narrative Structure: A Guide to Freytag’s Pyramid
Oct 05, 2022
If you’re a fiction editor, understanding narrative structure can help you assess your client’s work. One of the more common ways of conceptualizing narrative structure is Freytag’s Pyramid, which we will look at in today’s post. Read on to find out more about Freytag’s Pyramid and how to use it when editing. What is Freytag’s […]
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Common Fallacies (and How to Fix Them)
Oct 01, 2022
Logical fallacies are deceptive or false arguments that use faulty reasoning to shift the direction of a discussion away from the main point. Whether you’re writing a critical essay or having a heated discussion with your neighbor, being aware of logical fallacies can help you build stronger arguments and establish credibility. As an academic editor, […]
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Narrative Structure: The Hero's Journey
Sep 28, 2022
For anyone who edits creative writing, understanding narrative structure can be extremely useful. There are many different ways of conceptualizing narrative structure, but one of the most common is known as the Hero’s Journey. In this post, we’ll explain what the Hero’s Journey is and how you can use it when editing your client’s work. […]
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What Is an Executive Summary? (And How to Edit One)
Sep 21, 2022
If you’re a proofreader or editor who specializes in business writing, you’ll need to know how to edit an executive summary. An executive summary is a short overview of a business document that outlines the basic topics covered. In today’s post, we’ll explain executive summaries in more detail before giving you some tips on how […]
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How to Proofread and Edit an Academic CV
How to Proofread and Edit an Academic CV
Sep 15, 2022
If you’ve worked with professional CVs before, you may feel prepared to proofread and edit an academic CV. But there are some important differences between professional and academic CVs that you should know about. In this blog post, we give a brief guide to the content and structure of an academic CV and set out […]
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The Inverted Pyramid in Journalism
The Inverted Pyramid in Journalism
Sep 14, 2022
The inverted pyramid is a handy tool used by journalists and business writers to structure their work. Understanding the inverted pyramid and how it’s used will help you to edit this form of writing. In this post, we explain the basics of the inverted pyramid so that you can use it to help assess your […]