Copyediting sample 63:
What does it take to succeed?

A modifier problem or a failure to clarify a pronoun's referent can easily distort the author's intended meaning. A copyeditor needs to fix these common lapses.

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This sample is presented here with the author’s permission.

Original
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What Does It Take to Succeed? Being "cute" is helpful but it is not enough to succeed in show business. At auditions for kids, you will see so many cute kids that you will wonder how casting directors can actually choose. In addition to being cute, agents and casting directors are looking for kids who can work and be professional. Parents know that kids don't always behave. At home, it could just test your patience. But in a production environment, a kid who is not listening or taking directions is costing the production company a lot of money. A dozen crew members waiting for a kid to stop throwing a tantrum is very expensive.

Markup
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What Does It Take to Succeed? Being "cute" is helpful but helpful, but it is not enough to succeed in show business. At auditions for kids, you will see so many cute kids that you will wonder how casting directors can actually choose. can actually choose among them. In addition to being cute, to cuteness, [Otherwise, the agents and casting directors are "being cute."] agents and casting directors are looking for kids who can work and be professional. Parents know that kids don't always behave. At home, it could At home, bad behavior [We need to clarify what "it" refers to.] could just test your patience. But in a production environment, a kid who is not listening or taking directions not listening or not taking directions [We need to make sure there is no misreading that the kid is not listening but is taking directions.] is costing the production company a lot of money. A dozen crew members waiting for a kid to stop throwing a tantrum is very expensive.

Result
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What Does It Take to Succeed? Being "cute" is helpful, but it is not enough to succeed in show business. At auditions for kids, you will see so many cute kids that you will wonder how casting directors can actually choose among them. In addition to cuteness, agents and casting directors are looking for kids who can work and be professional. Parents know that kids don't always behave. At home, bad behavior could just test your patience. But in a production environment, a kid who is not listening or not taking directions is costing the production company a lot of money. A dozen crew members waiting for a kid to stop throwing a tantrum is very expensive.