I am copy.  I am style.

Do you know what a “Copy and style editor” does?

Well, buckle up because you’re about to find out!
...incidentally, that’s me. I’m the Copy and style editor at The Uniter. And this copy editing business deals in periods, commas, capitalizations, grammar and formatting.

I know what you’re thinking: “I know all about those Things, They are boring”.
(purposeful irony)

But I would shudder at such a thought - and I’m sure you know why. That’s right; because it’s not boring. There are so many nicky-picky formatting details that need catching and correcting. And that’s what I do: I catch grammar-gremlins and keep them in paper cages.

It sounds glamorous, like being a ghostbuster (mostly just because of the gremlin reference, another ‘80s horror-comedy). Copy editing certainly takes a lot of attentive reading. After all, each and every week we go to print, I read through the entire paper, I look over all the copy - that is, all the various articles that Uniter writers and editors produce, whatever is going to print - and I check for those written formatting details. The writers and eagle-eye section editors read it all over and tidy up a lot of it before I even see it. But there’s always something that trickles through, some nasty little goblin-detail of a thing, that I have to catch.

Now you may be wondering, “How many formatting details could there possibly be? Couldn’t they just do away with you and learn these details for themselves?”

Yes, they could; they could knock me over the head and take away my precious swipe card. But there are a lot of formatting details (which multiply when they come into contact with water).

“What kind of details?” you say.

Perhaps you know about The Canadian Press? It’s not only a general descriptor (which I would edit as “the Canadian press,” if it was being used in the general sense), but it’s also a proper noun! Fascinating, I know - but let’s learn more about this organization!

The Canadian Press (CP) operates as a co-operative between various news agencies across Canada in order to provide more comprehensive news coverage. It’s very much like the American-based Associated Press (AP).

CP has developed and publishes Stylebook and Caps and Spelling book, which are considered the chief styles guides for Canadian journalists, writers, PR people and various other professions that require clear and succinct communication writing. Stylebook page count is just shy of 500 pages, while the Caps and Spelling book comes out just over 200. If you think about that, it’s a lot of style and formatting details - and a lot of tips for clear, simple and concise writing.

I try to keep track of all that. I try to be that extra set of eyes to catch those insidious grammar-gremlins. And then I keep them away from water and expose them to sunlight at the earliest opportunity, so they melt into a puddle of green ooze and stop their mischief. Just like Billy and his mogwai!

Boo yah.