My Copy Editing Services: Copy editing and "teaching" through comments

My Copy Editing Services (contact me: kchoo7@gmail.com)

This is a description of my copy editing process for most writings:

Before I returned the document that I have copy edited, I would have gone through the client's original document twice -

First revision.

1.   I make changes to the writing to improve clarity of meaning and phrasing.

2.   In other instances, when the meaning of the writing is unclear, I will insert comments and queries for the client in a blue font, which are highlighted in yellow, thus making these passages far easier to read. 

This aspect is a particularly important part of my work on academic writings: Apart from clarifying the writing of the clients, I also provide teaching points and suggestions to help them to re-think their approach and their arguments.

Second revision.

3.   I review my own editing work to remove any additional errors that I had not caught in the first reading, as well as mistakes in my own corrections.

4.    As the copy is ‘cleaner’ after my first revision and I do have an understanding of the entire piece, the second revision will also be helpful for me to look at the document from a "big-picture" perspective and provide additional insights to the client.

Due to a bug that I had experienced with the "Track Changes" function in Word (which seems to be triggered by copy-pasted text from some other sources and leads to the rearrangement of letters in the text and renders words into gibberish), I will no longer be using this function. 

Here is my workaround solution: 

I will be sending back two documents: 

Document 1 (the version that I copy edited) will contain changes that I have made directly to the text (changes will not be highlighted or noticeable). Comments will be inserted in blue font and highlighted in yellow to stand out from the text.

Document 2 will be a merged document: it combines your original document and my copy edited version, thus showing up all the changes I have made in "Track Changes" mode. 

In case there are any bugs, my copy edited version that is not in the "Track Changes" mode will still contain the changes that I have made and can be compared with the merged document. This is thus a safeguard.

Please feel free to query me about my workaround solution. This is the best thing I can do, as I cannot be sure when my clients might have copy-pasted passages from sources (Internet/PDF articles) that could trigger this bug.

Editing and Charges

My rates for the editing process are as follows (as of June 2014):

Copy editing of academic and commercial writings: SGD0.075/word (based on the word count of the original document).

Intensive copy editing of academic and commercial writings: SGD75/hour. Please query me for more information.

Rewriting of commercial writings: SGD0.15–0.30/word. 

My Charges and Approach

The charge-per-word approach allows clients to know what the total cost would be. Based on the number of words and my existing workload, I would provide an estimated timeframe for the deadline. I can either return the document section by section, or in entirety.

With clients based in Singapore, I typically ask for a 50% payment up front in the case of individual clients. Due to the nature of the work, in which I may not meet my clients in person, the payment approach is based on a sharing of trust:

In paying for the work up front, you trust that I will perform the task. On my part, I recognise that you are serious about having me do your work.

Once the payment is received, I will send a receipt to the client via email and proceed to do the work.

When I have emailed the edited text (upon completion), I will issue an invoice — the payment period is seven days to provide time for the review of my work. At this point, I have to trust that the client will make payment for the remainder of the editing work done.

Thus far, my experiences with private clients have been positive. I hope that it will continue so that I can maintain this practice.

With clients based overseas (not in Singapore), I will ask for 100% payment up front in the case of individual clients. Payment will be made via Paypal. Please note that the client will be responsible for all Paypal fees. (I will provide the estimate of the fees.) 

Once the payment is received, I will send a screenshot of the actual amount I have received from Paypal (after Paypal fees have been deducted) as a confirmation of the payment received.

One-on-one coaching in academic writing (in-person or Skype)

COACHING IN WRITING

Those who prefer undivided attention and want to focus fully on their writings can seek my assistance on a one-on-one basis through individualised mentoring sessions and reviews.

The chief objectives of the first session of an academic writing consultation for clients doing their theses are as follows:

• Formulate the research question(s): Your thesis is fundamentally about addressing the research question(s). Thus, it is important for you to frame it (them) in precise terms. 
• Develop a thesis template (Introduction to Conclusion): This template provides a guiding framework and a sense of direction for the research and writing process by clearly demarcating the scope of the research study.
• Acquiring the knowledge and skills in academic writing: This is helpful for individuals who are unfamiliar with the structure of the thesis and the academic writing stye.
• Brainstorming ideas, concepts, and themes: It is sometimes beneficial to be able to bounced off your ideas about the different aspects of your thesis with me to determine what should or should not be included, or where they should be placed, in your thesis.

Cost: SGD90/per hour (Skype or in-person). If travel is required, travel costs (back-and-forth by taxi) will be added. 

Actual costs will be pro-rated according to the amount of time spent. 

Subsequent sessions can be helpful in supporting the clients during the different phases of their thesis writing process, especially when paired with my copy editing services.

Contact

Ms. Choo Kah Ying, kchoo7@gmail.com 

Academic writing workshops

ACADEMIC WRITING WORKSHOP SERIES

“The ABCs of Academic Writing” Series comprises two 4-hour workshop sessions (described below). The first session will address the "macro" elements of writing an academic research report (learning about the different parts of the academic research report), while the latter will deal with the "micro" elements (practising the thinking and writing skills).

These two sessions can also be paired with a guided writing workshop in which participants apply what they have learnt during the workshop to their own research writing projects.

Targeted Audience

• Students Doing Research Writings: Graduate & Undergraduate Students; 
• Junior College Students; and 
• Polytechnic students

Course Overview

Through the use of excerpts of completed theses and published research articles, this workshop will adopt an activity-oriented approach to enable participants to: 

• Understand what goes under the specific components of an academic research report; 
• Study the content and the writing style;
• Engage directly in the critical thinking processes and practise formal writing skills involved in writing a good academic report; and 
• Revise sample pages of academic research writings done by themselves or their peers (depending on availability).

Session 1. Key Sections of an Academic Research Report 

By utilising excerpts of completed theses and published research articles from the participants' subject discipline as learning tools, participants will learn about the key sections of a thesis and their significance, as well as how to approach the coverage of the content for each section.

A.   Introduction: Background to the Problem; Theoretical Framework; Statement of Problem; Purpose of Study; Research Questions/Hypotheses; Significance of Study; Limitations/Delimitations; Assumptions; and Definitions of Terms

B.   Literature Review: Research and evaluation of sources for relevance; integration of sources within the writing

C.   Research Method: Research design; selection of your sample; data collection and data analysis methods

D.   Results/Findings: Description of results/findings; interpretation of results/findings

E.    Summary and Conclusion: Comparison and evaluation of your results/findings with previous research on this topic.

F.    Planning an Outline: Adopting a “reverse engineering” approach, we will break down the research article to determine its outline.

Session 2. Critical Reading Skills and the Writing Craft

In Session 2, participants will acquire and practise the specific skills to read and analyse academic texts critically. Moreover, we will delve into the writing skills needed to compose a readable text with ideas that flow logically from one to another. Finally, we will examine the attributes of the academic writing style and the diverse writing tones to learn how to convey our writing intent accurately.

A. Critical Reading Skills for Academic Texts

1.    Step 1 — Getting Acquainted: Annotation and Reading Log

2.    Step 2 — Delving into the Sources: Paraphrasing and Summarising

3.    Step 3 — Critical Response: Evaluation, Interpretation, and Integration

B. Writing Craft:

1.  Textual Unity: Logical flow of argument — development of ideas from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph

2.    Formulation of Sentences: Functional Purpose of Grammar

3.    Conveying Writing Intent: Word Choice and Syntax to produce the Desired Writing Voice, Writing Tone, Active vs. Passive Voice, & Word Play (Verbal Wit)

C. Revision: For this segment, participants will apply what they have learnt to samples of their own writings or their peers' writings (depending on preferences and availability)

Course Delivery and Costs

Workshops 1–2: 4 hours per workshop

·      Course Preparation (per workshop): Dependent on amount of preparation (ranging from SGD1,000–1,500)

·      Course Delivery (per workshop): SGD650 + transport costs (back-and-forth by taxi) + handout costs (if workshop is not organised by an institution: typically, the institution will bear the costs of printing the handouts)

·      Close reading of participant writings: SGD0.03/word (original wordcount)

Training Resources

PowerPoint Slideshow & Handouts

Materials Needed

Pen & Paper AND Laptop

Contact

Ms. Choo Kah Ying, kchoo7@gmail.com 

My Profile: Writer, Copy Editor, & Academic Writing Coach and Workshop Trainer

PROFILE OF CHOO KAH YING (kchoo7@gmail.com)

My name is Choo Kah Ying. I am a published writer, editor, and educator who has been working in this field since 1997. As a freelance academic researcher, writer, and editor in Los Angeles (1997–2005), I assisted diverse clients (from university students to working professionals) in the completion of their research writings for about eight years. 

Since my return to Singapore in 2005, I have also expanded into writing and editing general reference books, book chapters, articles, as well as educational workbooks (to learn more, please look up: http://www.awakeningminds.sg/books.html & http://www.awakeningminds.sg/articles.html)

Another significant part of my writing and editing work involves teaching students (from primary school to graduate level) how to tackle the writing of essays and research theses, either on a one-on-one basis, or in my writing workshops. At the minimum, my objective is to help my clients grasp the critical thinking processes and introduce them to practical writing techniques, which will enable them to express their ideas in a coherent fashion. For professional practitioners who are seeking a higher degree to progress in their profession, my focus is to assist them in conveying effectively their knowledge, experience, and passion in their field of work through their research studies.