Not Every Edit Is a Correction

Hiring an editor can feel like a leap of trust. You’ve invested time and care in your writing, and handing it over to someone else can bring an understandable concern: Will they help me polish it, or change it so much that it no longer sounds like me? That’s why it matters to distinguish between correcting an error and suggesting a different way to say something.

A proofreader’s job isn’t to make every sentence sound like something they would have written. Sometimes the most useful editorial decision is to leave a perfectly good sentence alone.

That may sound like an unusual thing for a proofreader to admit. Shouldn’t we be finding things to change?

Yes—but with a reason. “I would have written it differently” isn’t quite the same as “This needs correcting.” My preferences don’t get their own red pen.

Written work involves rules, conventions, preferences, and judgment. Knowing which one applies is part of thoughtful editorial work.

When Something Is Wrong

Some corrections are straightforward. A misspelled word, a missing quotation mark, or a subject and verb that don’t agree gives the proofreader a specific problem to address.

Consider this sentence:

The list of supplies are on the desk.

The subject is list, so the verb needs to be is:

The list of supplies is on the desk.

That’s a correction—not a matter of taste.

Other problems may require checking rather than an immediate change. If someone’s surname appears as MacDonald in one place and McDonald in another, the inconsistency needs attention. But deciding which spelling is correct requires verification.

The goal isn’t simply to make the two spellings match. It’s to make them match the right name.

When Style Makes the Decision

Not every editorial question has one answer that applies to every project.

Take the serial comma—the comma before and in a list:

The package includes a notebook, a pen, and a folder.

Some projects call for that comma consistently. Others follow a different convention. The proofreader’s task is to apply the project’s chosen style while watching for ambiguity.

If a manuscript follows a style guide or a publisher’s house style, an edit may be needed to bring the text into alignment. That doesn’t necessarily mean the original wording or punctuation was universally wrong.

It means the project has a standard, and the text needs to follow it.

This is why I want to know about your style requirements before beginning a project. Your manuscript doesn’t need to follow my personal preferences. It needs to follow the conventions appropriate to your work.

When a Suggestion Is Optional

Now consider these two sentences:

We offer proofreading services for authors and businesses.

We provide proofreading services to authors and businesses.

Neither sentence needs correcting. Someone may prefer provide to offer, but preference alone doesn’t make the other word an error.

A revision can still be useful. Perhaps a sentence is grammatical but difficult to follow. Perhaps a word appears so often that it becomes distracting. Depending on the agreed scope of the work, an editor might suggest a change or flag a concern.

But an optional suggestion should be presented as an optional suggestion.

There’s a meaningful difference between:

“The verb should be singular because the subject is singular.”

and:

“Consider this wording for a smoother transition.”

One identifies an error. The other offers a possibility. Writers deserve to know which is which.

When Leaving It Alone Matters

Your voice is part of your writing. A conversational blog post shouldn’t automatically sound like an academic paper. A character’s dialogue shouldn’t necessarily sound like a business report. And an unusual phrase isn’t automatically a mistake.

Before changing something, I want to be able to explain the reason.

Does it contain an error? Does it conflict with the agreed style? Is its meaning unclear? Is there an inconsistency that needs checking?

Or would I simply have chosen a different word?

If it’s that last one, the sentence may be perfectly fine where it is. Not every sentence needs an editorial makeover. Some arrived perfectly well dressed.

Respecting the writer’s voice doesn’t mean ignoring problems. It means addressing those problems without replacing the writer’s personality with the proofreader’s.

What You Can Expect

My approach is to correct demonstrable errors, follow the agreed style, and flag uncertainties rather than guess. If an optional suggestion falls within the project’s scope, I aim to make its purpose clear.

That also means being honest about what proofreading includes. A final proofreading pass and a broader copyedit are different services; the level of intervention should reflect what we’ve agreed to do.

The goal isn’t a document covered in changes. It’s a document that has received careful attention.

Sometimes that means making a correction. Sometimes it means asking a question.

And sometimes it means leaving a good sentence alone.

Have a project that needs a careful review? Get in touch to discuss the level of support that fits your work.