Do you remember the song “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails”? Fred Astaire sings about getting dressed for a formal event – starting with his top hat, then a white tie, brushing off his tails, inserting shirt studs, and polishing his nails.
It’s charming… but not exactly the right order. For instance, tying your tie before putting on shirt studs is, well, optimistic. And where are the pants?
This funny little misstep brings us to an important point: order matters, especially in editing. Just as getting dressed has a sequence, so does preparing a manuscript. Yet “proofreading” often gets used as a catch-all term for everything from fixing typos to rewriting entire sections. That’s like asking someone to straighten your tie and then hoping they’ll also design your outfit.
True proofreading happens at the very end – after your text is already laid out for publication. By then, everything should be in place: tone, flow, structure, and sentence clarity. Proofreading is the polish – not the tailoring.
Understanding this order can save time, money, and a lot of confusion. Each editing stage builds on the previous one, just like each piece of Fred’s outfit relies on what’s already been put on. Skipping ahead means you’re adjusting your hat while holding your shirt – and nobody wants that.
In the next newsletter we’ll break down the next two steps in the editing wardrobe: developmental editing.
Marion Metz Solutions 
Leave a comment