Editing examples

Below you’ll find some fun and instructive editing and proofreading exercises.

Enjoy — and if you have questions, don’t hesitate to call or email us.

(Original copy is in black, corrected copy in red.)

Copy-editing Exercise 1: Grammar & Usage

1. Subject and verbs has always to agree.
   Subjects and verbs always have to agree.
2. Make each pronoun agree with their antecedent.
   Make each pronoun agree with its antecedent.
3. Being bad grammar, the writer should not use dangling participles.
   Because dangling participles are bad grammar, the writer should not use them.
4. Don’t write run-on sentences, they are hard to read and punctuate them properly.
   Don’t write run-on sentences; they are hard to read and punctuate properly.
5. Don’t use no double negatives, not never.
   Don’t ever use double negatives.
6. Don’t use mixed metaphors because they are a pain in the neck and should be thrown out the window.
   Don’t use mixed metaphors. They are a pain in the neck and must be massaged out.
7. Make sure to understand that a writer when he is writing something should not get accustomed to the habit of making use of too may redundant words that he does not actually really need in order to put his message across to the reader of what he has written.
   A writer should not use too many words in getting his message across to the reader.
8. About sentence fragments. Not good to use.
   Don’t use sentence fragments.
9. Try not to ever split infinitives.
   Try not ever to split infinitives.
10. Don’t use a foreign word when there is an adequate English quid pro quo.
    Don’t use a foreign word when there is an adequate English equivalent.
11. If you do use a foreign word phrase, it is de rigor to use it correctly.
    If you do use a foreign word or phrase, it is de rigueur to use it correctly.
12. It behooves the writer in his epistles to avoid archaic expressions.
    Letter writers should avoid out-of-date expressions.
13. Don’t use hyperbole unless you’re the one writer in a million who can use it effectively.
    Don’t use hyperbole unless you can use it effectively.
14. Avoid clichés like the plague.
    Avoid clichés like the boils on a burro’s bottom.
15. But, don’t use commas, ever, when they are not necessary, or important.
    Don’t ever use commas when they are not necessary or important.
16. Don’t abbrev. unless nec.
    Do not abbreviate unless necessary.
17. Proofread carelessly to avoid mistrakes.
    Proofread carefully to avoid mistakes.

Copy-editing Exercise 2: Tone & Usage

1. Avoid alliteration always.
   Never use alliteration.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
   Don’t end sentences with prepositions.
3. Employ the vernacular.
   Use plain speech.
4. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
   Avoid ampersands, abbreviations, and other short-cuts.
5. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
   Parenthetical remarks are usually unnecessary.
6. Contractions aren’t necessary.
   Contractions are usually unnecessary.
7. One should never generalize.
   Do not generalize unless you have specific evidence to back up your ideas.
8. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”
   Do not cite quotations or authorities when you can talk from experience.
9. Comparisons are as bad as clichés.
   Comparisons can be as stale as spilled beer from last year’s Super Bowl.
10. Profanity sucks.
    Swearing is rude and vulgar.
11. Be more or less specific.
    Use specific facts, like inches of rainfall, GDP, and the color of a new hybrid rose.
12. Understatement is always best.
    Understatement avoids the dangers of exaggeration.
13. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
    Analogies in writing are often forced and absurd.
14. The passive voice is to be avoided.
    Avoid the passive voice when the active voice is clearer and more forceful.
15. Who needs rhetorical questions?
    Rhetorical questions can alienate or bore the audience.