How to Learn Copy Editor Marks

Copy editing is meant to strengthen and improve a piece of writing but unless you are familiar with traditional copy editing marks, you won't know what changes to make. Follow these steps to learn the basics.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Copy
• Red Pen

1. Print this Web page so you have something to actually mark up with a red pen. You will remember the marks better if you have actually drawn them.

2. Draw three lines under a word that needs capitalization such as "mississippi."

3. Slash through a capital letter that should be lower case such as "Incorrect."

4. Underline a word if you want it in italics and draw a wavy line under a word to be boldfaced. (Mark the word italics and boldface with these editing marks.)

5. Insert a backwards P ( ¶ ) to suggest a new paragraph.

6. Connect two lines or paragraphs together
   by using a run-on line, connecting the two. Fix this sentence, using that technique.

7. Use a caret (^) in order to insert a letter within a word or word within a sentence. Insert the missing leter in this sentence.

8. Delete a word or letter by slashing through the letter, ending with a curl on the end. Delete the second second word using this copy editing symbol.

9. Mark "Stet" if you have made a change that you want to disregard. If a spelling should be left alone but might be changed by a proofreader, such as a unique spelling of a name, mark it with "CQ" to indicate it has been checked and is correct.

10. If a word or sentence has transposed letters or words, use a single line looped under and over to show the transposition. Correct the two up mixed words to show how this mark is used.

Tips & Warnings

• Create a cheat sheet of the copy editing marks to keep close by. There is often a proofreader's checklist in the back of most dictionaries.