Welcome to Editing and Proofreading. Hi, I'm Maria Gill and I'm taking you on the last part of your journey in this MOOC, Writing for Young Readers, Opening the Treasure Chest. When I first started writing, I thought my job was done once I finished my first draft. I thought it was ready to launch into the world, but after taking a writing course, I learned that I had to put the brakes on, step back a while to get distance from my story, and then look at it with a critical eye. In fact, I've discovered I usually write several drafts, and I'm constantly editing my story until I feel it's ready to send off. At that stage I might send it to some readers, and a professional manuscript. I want my manuscript to shine when it reaches a publishing managers desk, and so will you. David Hill has given you the tools to shape your writing. I'm now going to present you with the tools you can use to polish your work and take it into the public arena. I'm going to cover editing and proofreading in this module. And then I'll guide you through the publishing process to give you information and ideas on how you might chose to approach publishing. I'll also be interviewing some top authors who can share their editing, proof reading and publishing successes with you. Before we start, don't forget to look at the course materials to help guide you through the modules and activities you can participate in. So far, we've invited you to participate in the community forums, work on your writing, and submit your writing pieces for peer review. Now it's time to polish your words. In this module, I'll tell you about two types of editing, structural editing and copy editing, and then I'll tell you about proofreading. These are all processes that a publishing company puts manuscripts through once they've been accepted for publishing. Throughout these modules, I'll teach you how to work on your editing skills and apply them to your own writing. I'd like to take a few minutes now to talk very briefly about these topics so that when you start watching the next segment, you'll be a bit more aware of the editing terms I'm going to teach you. Let's say that a manuscript has gone to a publisher because they're going to print the book. At the publishing company, the first editor who looks at the manuscript is called a Structural Editor. They'll make sure that the layout of the story is working. The Structural Editor checks that the story flows well and has a really interesting beginning. They'll make sure the middle is not saggy, but is exciting and that it ends well and doesn't finish too suddenly. We need to do that with our stories too. You'll also want to make sure your story doesn't have any inconsistencies. For example, a writer friend of mine found he'd killed the same person twice. You don't want that. At the publisher's office, your manuscript goes to a copyeditor. A copyeditor makes sure everything is factually correct, spelled properly, and punctuated, and set out so it looks interesting on each page. So when you copyedit your work, you'll be looking at facts, spelling, and punctuation. We're going to suggest some tools to help you. The last stage of this process, before the story goes off to be printed into a book, is when a proofreader checks to see if there are any typing mistakes, and if the punctuation is consistent. You'll also need to proofread your manuscript before you send it to a publisher, or before sending it to a professional editor. In this module, we got some tips to help you proofread with accuracy. The editing process, we're going to learn about, might seem time consuming and overwhelming. So just remember, while you're editing your writing, a good tip is to put your work aside for a while because a break in writing and editing allows you to consolidate ideas, and then you can look at your work with fresh eyes. The important thing to remember is to use your new editing skills in a way that allows you to feel excited about your work. Don't allow yourself to get too tired while you're editing because it might impact on the quality of your finished work. You'll want to make sure you create polished work that has been thoughtfully and carefully edited and proofread. Take your time to get the best results. During this part of the course, we'll give you opportunities to give and receive feedback on yourself edited manuscripts, and ask questions about anything you might not be sure about in the Community Forums and in the Peer Reviews. Of course, you'll already have done some writing if you've done the previous modules. So, now's a good time to review your work, and you might want to have some of your practice writing pieces ready to use once I teach you some editing skills. Take some time to gather your writing pieces before you start watching my next video and I'll see you soon.
