In a single document, a copy editor may encounter a combination of errors that are one-offs and errors that are likely to occur in multiple places. It may be tempting to pause a read-through to go check for other places where the same error occurs, and sometimes this can be an efficient detour, but too often it can lead to half-completed checks or to errors you are later shocked to have missed. I call these “squirrel” edits, since they can grab your attention even mid-sentence and send you off chasing them. Worse, while on one squirrel chase you may notice another and another, until you’re no longer sure where you originally paused. In this webinar, we’ll look at some methods to manage these distracting squirrel edits so editors need not fear losing the plot.
Claire Fossey is an Editors Canada Certified Copy Editor with over a decade of experience working as an in-house technical writer and editor for a global engineering and environmental consulting firm.