Editing is more than messing about with words. There are principles to be followed. And individual background and perspective factors in as well.

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Informational Nonfiction

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What do editors do?
What do editors do?

You know we’ll get into levels of edit, right?

Editors work with words on the page, helping to better shape their presentation and impact. They do this in various ways, depending in part upon how far along in the process the piece is, depending in part also upon what the piece needs — as long as the schedule supports it, of course.

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When writing is “correct,” yet flawed
When writing is “correct,” yet flawed

ANALYZING AND SOLVING BEYOND MERE MECHANICS

Consistently, the problem I see with novice editors is, on the one hand, not knowing when they should limit themselves to strictly mechanical copyediting, and on the other, not knowing when — and how — to intervene more deeply.

A long-form piece, with examples.

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Editing, you say?
Editing, you say?

THE ABILITY TO SPOT A FEW CLASSES OF ERROR IS NOT NEARLY CREDENTIAL ENOUGH

When I was at a startup in the early ’90s and we were building our department, we took on as editor someone very new to the profession. She had studied design in school, and the portfolio she brought us was filled with visual pieces. But she had an ear for the language, she had a passion for reading and could parse a sentence, she was sharp and analytical, and she soon picked things up. 

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The levels of edit via checklists
The levels of edit via checklists

A deeper dive into the levels

Each level of edit has its own concerns, though when you look across the levels as a whole, at the borders, one shades into the next. The divisions between each level are not hard and fast. Working with checklists can help orient you to the primary focus of each level.

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The levels of edit
The levels of edit

SURVEYING THE EDITORIAL LANDSCAPE

You know this already, even as novice writer or editor: some text needs only a minor bit of tweaking to ready it for publication; other text might need progressively more intervention before it goes before an audience. The categories of editorial intervention — from deeper to lighter, and the tasks involved—are known as the levels of edit.

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The editor’s role
The editor’s role

PROFESSIONAL EDITORS WORK IN SERVICE OF THE PUBLICATION, THE WRITER, AND THE READER. AND THEY HAVE A PLAN.

The editor has a well-defined role, although this role varies in different publishing environments. Certain commonalities, however, hold across environments. 

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General context

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What’s developmental editing, what’s ghostwriting?
What’s developmental editing, what’s ghostwriting?

The line between the two can shift, depending upon perspective

Although there are rules (for light to medium copyediting) and principles (for line or developmental editing) to be followed, editing is more art than science. The deeper into a piece an editor goes, the more interpretative the work.

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The editor’s bookshelf
The editor’s bookshelf

Resource, reference, guide

The skills an editor develops over a lifetime of editing are the tools in her toolkit. Integral to developing and honing those skills are the books in her life. The books she reads for pleasure, making the rhythms of the language (or languages) intuitively her own. And the books she reads and studies specifically to learn more about how the language works.

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