5 unexpected ways hiring a copy editor can improve your writing

Design Agencies Are Leaving Millions of Dollars On The Table

Designers at design agencies have a unique ability to stare at copy for days at a time and never know what it says. To them, it’s another graphic element, as it should be.

But what if design agencies could evaluate the copy as well as lay it out? What if they could truncate to it make it pithier and easier to fit? What if they could augment it to better complement a visual idea they had? What if they could go back to the client and say “we know what you were going for but here’s a better way of getting there?”

Companies that care about customers use a copyeditor

Marcus Gee wrote a great piece in the Globe and Mail about dangling modifiers. This line jumped off the page for us:

The smallest hint of confusion can give the reader “a breach in time to check mail, get up and make a sandwich, shoot a cat video.” English, he says, is a subject-verb-object language. “If you’re unclear in your own mind about the relationship between these components, or if you muddy it for the reader, you’ve fried the motherboard.”

You are what you post: A social media warning

Social media is the great equalizer of our time. It gives everyone the same opportunity to share their views, thoughts, wisdoms and gripes — and people take full advantage of that on a regular basis. But the power to say what you want when you want about whatever you want comes with consequences, ranging from public shaming to getting fired.

On the more benign end of the spectrum, consider the story of Alex Johnston, a political candidate for office in 2015’s Canadian federal election. She was called out for a ridiculous Facebook post she made seven years prior about Auschwitz. These posts came to light weeks before voters went to the polls. And while she was a long shot to win anyway, this revelation all but guaranteed a loss. While members of her party won surrounding ridings, she only captured 16% of the vote in hers.

Strong communication skills

You see the phrase “strong communication skills” everywhere: on resumes (I have strong communication skills), on job postings (strong communication skills required), on bios (she has strong communication skills).

But what does it mean to “communicate strongly”? And what “skills” do people who communicate strongly possess? We’ve identified five:

Five reasons not to use a proofreader.

5. You believe that bad publicity is good publicity.

You accidentally refer to Fort McMurray as Fart McMurray. First it gets picked up by the usual suspects: grammar nerds who have noting better to do than correct companies. But there’s a fart in there, so before you know it,  Buzzfeed, Funny or Die and Vice have gotten wind. Now you’re front page news — and so what if it’s for the wrong reason. You’ve got people talking. Except by this point, Mayor Blake and Premier Notely are making noise, going on about how the people of Alberta have gone through enough over the past few years — and now you’re comparing them to flatulence. You’d think they’d just let this one pass, but why would they when this kind of stuff’ll get them at least a few hundred votes next time around.

Copywriter tales

On March 10th, 2017, the Page 7 Copywriting brand was folded into Re:word. For nine years, p7 was the copywriting agency of choice for some of the biggest brands and best agencies including Google, BBDO, HP, Bodog, The National Ballet of Canada and Madd Munchies Late Night Food Emporium.

But the name Page 7 was always meant to be a placeholder. Dan promised himself he’d change it when he had some downtime. It never came. Probably a good thing. But if he did change it, Re:word would’ve definitely been a contender. But then Gina would’ve had to take Dan to court and it would’ve been a whole thing.

The Difference One Missed Letter Makes

You’d think that when you accidentally miss a letter whilst typing really quickly that the intent of the writing doesn’t get lost. Sometimes the words are still correct, so autocorrect or spellcheck don’t pick up on them. That’s when you’re in trouble, because some of these differences can range from embarrassing to reputation-altering given their context.

As the following examples illustrate, one letter can completely change the meaning of words. So either watch your words very closely or utilize the services of someone who is trained to spot such details (wink, wink).

What Presentation Errors Really Say

This brief video says it all: it doesn’t matter how eloquent or captivating the given presentation is — errors and typos will overpower the rest of the content as that’s all anyone will see.

That one little “they’re is” will overshadow your entire slide like a dark and dreary rain cloud. Hemingway himself couldn’t make you overlook it if he were personally reading his own words to you. Even with his dapper charm.

Dodge Double Negatives

It’s not uncommon to see double negatives in writing.

Now, wouldn’t that have read better if we said it’s common instead?