Yes, you need an editor

Why? You have a human brain.

“Where’s the paper towel holder? Did we find a place for it?”

I peered dubiously into the over-packed car. Steve and I were taking the final load of random things from the house we were vacating. I thought we were ready to leave.

“I haven’t seen it,” he said.

Back in the house, there it was, sitting on the otherwise empty kitchen counter. Loaded with a fresh roll of paper towels.

I had walked right past it thinking, “Yup, the kitchen is empty.” My brain simply didn’t register it.

Our brains are too helpful.

They fill in what we expect to see, even if it’s not there. And sometimes they look right past things that we have already determined belong, even if they don’t.

This, my friend, is why we need editors.

A professional copyeditor sees what’s really on the page, not what we think should be there. They fill in our blind spots.

Critical projects need critical eyes

People sometimes ask me if they really need copyediting for their manuscript. “You’ve looked at it and it’s pretty clean, right?”