Copyedit

Copyedit a novel manuscript: mechanics, consistency, continuity, and the styling of non-standard language. Correct what is unambiguously wrong, query what is a judgment call, and record every decision where the author and a later proofreader can find it.

Scope: Grammar, punctuation, spelling, usage, capitalization, hyphenation, numerals, typography conventions, internal consistency, continuity of character and timeline, styling of invented and non-standard language, and basic fact-checking. Not plot, structure, or pacing (developmental-edit); not sentence craft, rhythm, or word choice (line-edit); not proofreading set pages.

Definition of done: the author can open one tracked file per chapter and accept or reject every change, find every judgment call in a single numbered query log with a suggested fix, and hand the style sheet and timeline to a proofreader or to the next book in the series without explanation.

Read This Before Using the Skill

This is the most rule-bound pass in the set, and rules are where a machine can be most confidently wrong.

• The author's system outranks the guide, and you must derive it before enforcing it. Dialect, archaic voice, slang, and conlangs are governed by register-rules.md. A register marker is left alone; only inconsistency is flagged. When no system exists, derive one, get it confirmed, then enforce it.
• Legal flags are flags. Never imply a rights question is resolved, and state in the output that a professional must clear permissions.
• Deliberate fictionalization is not an error. Query it; never correct it.
• Mind the level. Fiction rarely warrants a heavy copyedit. If the manuscript needs sentence-level recasting, route it to line-edit rather than rewriting here.
• Say what was not verified. An unsourced real-world fact is marked unverified, never silently asserted.
• This is not a proofread and not a guarantee. Report what was checked, and recommend a human proofread of the formatted file before publication.

Non-negotiables

1. The source is read-only. Corrections go into a tracked copy in tracked/. The manuscript is never modified in place.
2. Query before judging. Unambiguous mechanical errors are corrected. Anything requiring a judgment call is queried with the least intrusive suggested fix — never silently rewritten.
3. The author's style sheet outranks the style guide. CMOS is the default authority, not the ruler. Every deviation from it is a logged decision, not a mistake.
4. Never correct dialect, period voice, slang, or an invented language into standard English. Enforce the author's own system; flag only inconsistency. See references/register-rules.md.
5. Internal consistency is the standard for fictional facts. A real-world fact may be wrong on the page and still be deliberate; query it, never "fix" it.
6. Real-world facts are sourced, not asserted. Record what was checked and where. Mark anything you could not verify.
7. Legal questions are flagged, never resolved. You are not the author's lawyer and you do not obtain permissions.
8. Log every change and every query so nothing is invisible to the author.

Inputs

• A folder path containing chapter files, including front and back matter
• Optional: style guide and variant, level, dictionary, house style, series style sheet
• Optional project files: copyedit/ from a prior run, line-edit/, editorial-review/, characters/*.md, MANUSCRIPT.md, ORDER.md, chapters.json
• Chapter files may carry YAML properties — copy assets/templates/chapter-note.md; see references/ingestion-and-markup.md
• Optional mode: tracked (default), clean, or queries (query log only)

Check the pipeline before starting. A copyedit is the third pass. If editorial-review/ carries open Critical notes or line-edit/ reports show unapplied edits, say so — copyediting text that is about to change is wasted work.

Output Contract

<project_folder>/copyedit/
├── metadata.md
├── status.json
├── style-sheet.md
├── timeline.md
├── register-rules.md
├── queries.md
├── summary.md
├── chapters/
│   ├── ch01.md
│   └── archive/
├── tracked/
│   └── ch01.md
└── clean/            (opt-in)
    └── ch01.md

Never invent a second layout. Superseded notes move to chapters/archive/.

• queries.md is the single numbered query log for the whole manuscript — the author's to-do list.
• style-sheet.md, timeline.md, and register-rules.md are living documents that persist across a series.
• tracked/ holds the corrected copy per chapter, in CriticMarkup.

If the project already has a legacy layout or an existing series style sheet, follow it and say so.

Workflow

0. Pre-flight

1. Scan and classify files (references/ingestion-and-markup.md): chapters, special chapters, front matter (title page, dedication, epigraphs, copyright), back matter (acknowledgments, author's note, glossary, pronunciation guide, booklist), notes, binaries. Handle nested folders and version suffixes.
2. Validate ORDER.md / chapters.json if present.
3. Report the manifest (file, words, type) and confirm scope.
4. Confirm the parameters:
   • Style guide and edition (default: Chicago 18th)
   • Region variant (US / UK / AU / CA) and dictionary
   • Edit level (default: medium — see the table below)
   • Which optional passes to run: fact-checking with sources, legal/permissions screening, series continuity
   • Existing house or series style
5. Check the pipeline gate above and flag premature work.

1. Calibration

Before editing a word:

1. Read MANUSCRIPT.md and any existing copyedit/ documents.
2. Read characters/*.md for declared character facts and voice, and line-edit/style-sheet.md if it exists — its decisions are already made and must not be re-litigated.
3. Read one full chapter to learn the register: is there dialect, archaic speech, slang, a conlang, telepathy, texting?
4. Ask what is deliberate. "Which of these are choices I should not touch: non-standard grammar in narration, dialect spelling, archaic forms, sentence fragments, comma splices, your own punctuation conventions?"
5. Seed style-sheet.md (copy assets/templates/style-sheet.md) and register-rules.md (copy assets/templates/register-rules.md).
6. Present your understanding of the styling system in a few lines and let the author correct it.

Do not begin the mechanical pass before the register rules exist. Correcting invented language against English is the fastest way to make the skill useless.

2. Per-Chapter Pass

Two sweeps per chapter, in this order.

Sweep A — consistency and continuity first (references/consistency-and-continuity.md):

1. Update the character, location, object, and term tables.
2. Update timeline.md with every time reference, vague or exact.
3. Log discrepancies as queries with both locators quoted.
4. Update register-rules.md with any new term and check it against existing rules.

Sweep B — mechanics (references/mechanics.md):

1. Apply the confirmed authority (CMOS 18th by default) and the style sheet.
2. Silent corrections — unambiguous errors with one right answer — go into the tracked copy.
3. Queries — judgment calls, ambiguities, plausible-but-uncertain errors, style choices — go into queries.md with a suggestion.
4. Rewrite requests — passages needing recasting for clarity — are flagged, not edited. That is line-edit territory.

Then write chapters/<source-basename>.md from assets/templates/chapter-copyedit.md, update all living documents, and update status.json.

Two passes are mandatory for heavy register work (conlangs, dense dialect, archaic prose): one pass for meaning, one for spelling and grammar, so you never "correct" a word you haven't yet understood.

3. Queries Round

Present queries.md: numbered, each with locator, the quoted text, the issue, the suggested fix, and the reason. Group by chapter. This is the author's work queue — keep it complete and keep it readable.

4. Cleanup Round

When the author answers, apply the decisions (this is cleanup editing):

• Update the style sheet with every decision, so it never comes up again.
• Apply accepted suggestions to the tracked copy.
• Mark each query answered with the author's decision and the date.
• Re-query only if the answer creates a new inconsistency.

5. Clean Copy (opt-in)

Only when asked. Write style-sheet-consistent copies to clean/, applying only silent corrections and author-approved queries. Never apply an open query.

6. Summary

Write summary.md from assets/templates/summary.md: what was corrected, what was queried, continuity issues found, fact-checks performed with sources, legal flags, and the state of the style sheet, timeline, and register rules. Mark it stale in status.json whenever a chapter note changes.

7. Deliverable Summary

• List outputs created or updated
• Report corrections and queries by count and category
• Surface the continuity issues and any legal or permission flags
• Report fact-checks performed and anything unverifiable
• Offer: answer queries, run a pass at a different level, extend to another book in the series, or produce a clean copy

Intervention Classes

Every intervention is exactly one of three. The mix defines the level.

If you cannot decide which class an intervention belongs to, it is a query. Always.

Edit Levels

Fiction rarely warrants a heavy copyedit. If the manuscript needs heavy work at the sentence level, it needs line-edit, and a heavy copyedit will damage the voice. Say so.

Query Categories

Mechanics · Usage · Consistency · Continuity · Timeline · Character fact · Register · Invented term · Fact-check · Legal/permissions · Clarity

Key References (load on demand)

Templates (copy, then fill)

Outputs — these belong in copyedit/.

Author input files — these belong in the manuscript folder, alongside the chapter files. All are optional.

Edge Cases

• Pipeline violation — developmental or line-edit work outstanding → flag before editing
• Existing series style sheet → use it; never re-decide settled questions
• Dialect, period voice, or conlang → the author's system is the authority, never standard English
• An intentionally ungrammatical narrator → not an error to correct
• Deliberate fictionalization (invented towns, altered history, compressed time) → do not correct
• Ambiguous sentence → query, never guess
• Text messages, telepathy, remembered speech, unspoken dialogue → check the convention in the style sheet and query inconsistency
• Front and back matter → copyedit them like chapters unless the author excludes them
• .docx with existing tracked changes → extract and preserve; flag ambiguous residue rather than stacking changes on competing ones
• Version suffixes or multiple drafts → ask which is live
• Non-English or mixed-language manuscript → note language and apply the author's stated convention for foreign passages
• Author answers a query with "leave it" → record it in the style sheet as settled, never raise it again

Working With the Other Skills

• line-edit — runs before this. Its style sheet is already-decided style; adopt it rather than re-deciding. Passages that need recasting go back to line-edit, not into the copyedit.
• developmental-edit — runs before that. If editorial-review/ carries open Critical structural notes, the text is not stable enough to copyedit.
• character-interview — characters/*.md declares character facts and voice. Use it to resolve continuity questions, and query when the manuscript contradicts the declared intent.
• proofread — the last pass. It adopts this skill's style sheet wholesale, is blocked while any copyedit query is open, and may route a weak sentence back here rather than rewriting it. Finish the copyedit and close the query log before handing off.

What This Skill Does Not Do

• Rewrite, recast, or restructure sentences for style — that is line editing
• Comment on plot, structure, pacing, or character arcs
• Proofread set pages, or serve as the final pass before publication
• Enforce conscious or inclusive language — flagging that is sensitivity reading, out of scope here
• Provide accessibility review
• Give legal advice, obtain permissions, or clear rights
• Invent facts, terms, or content to resolve a query
• Correct dialect, register, or invented language into standard English