The wonderful world of proofreading

By Julia Harwardt
Translated by Richard Peters

The fact that my translator colleagues and I love language is neither a secret nor a surprise – otherwise we would hardly have ended up in our profession. But for language to fulfil its role as a builder of bridges, it needs something else besides beautiful expressions and clear, elegant phrasing: namely, correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. They say that the devil is in the details, and I get such a thrill out of chasing down every last bit of his handiwork. I derive great satisfaction from catching each and every error – whether glaring or slight – and delivering a text that’s so thoroughly “clean,” even the editors at Duden, Germany’s premier dictionary, wouldn’t find fault with it. Although the subject of proofreading hadn’t featured in my translation studies, I was always quite sure that I was doing a good job – albeit that I never thought more closely about the methods and goals of editing. But that changed quickly when Klein Wolf Peters arranged for me to attend a five-part series of seminars for ISO 17100-compliant copy editing, which was offered by the German Federal Association of Translators and Interpreters (BDÜ). This included a two-day “Proofreading” module: “Wonderful,” I thought: “I can do everything, I know it all already. Piece of cake.” Well, not quite.

As I quickly discovered, I’d previously had no idea just how broad the range of tasks and definitions is in this field. The discussions around the content, methods, and goals of proofreading showed me that even the specialists are far from unanimous and clear on that. At Klein Wolf Peters, too, we’re always faced with the question: What do our customers actually want us to do when they place a proofreading job with us? And is everyone in the picture on how to meet these requirements?

Let’s start with the general basics: the core objective of proofreading is to improve an already existing text. The aspects that I check as a proofreader ultimately depend on the type of text as well as my customer’s wishes and expectations. They can be roughly divided into three categories: First, there’s the linguistic level, which involves checking things like grammar, spelling, and punctuation and correcting them if necessary. Then there’s the content level, which includes the structure and length of the text as well as the accuracy and logic of the content. Finally, there’s the formal level, which is about whether layout specifications or line breaks have been implemented correctly.

Which of these three aspects is the focus – or perhaps it’s a combination, or even all three – depends on the desired result. Terms such as “advertising editing”, “standard editing”, “correction proofing”, and “style editing” do exist, but in my opinion they don’t really mean much, as people’s interpretation of the terms can vary wildly. That means every proofreading job has its own specific requirements, which have to be clarified with the customer: Does the tweet just need a quick grammar and spelling check? Or should the post also be reviewed for reader-friendliness or targeted language? Or maybe the marketing team isn’t quite happy with the headlines and subheads in the next blog – in which case I switch hats and go from being an editor to a copywriter to consider possible alternatives. Another common job is to check galley proofs or the final layout, for example for line breaks or the implementation of graphic specifications. Of course, we hardly ever do any of this on paper these days; instead we use digital formats – and here, too, I need to clarify whether the customer wants me to insert my changes or alternative suggestions by comment, in track changes mode, or directly and without highlighting.

At the end of the day, the important thing is always to clear all these details with our customers. Only if we as editors know exactly what they need, and how we can best meet their expectations, can we work precisely and deliver carefully edited copy that really packs a punch – whether as a press release, on the company website, as part of a sustainability report, or in an online store.