Editing

Managers and other leaders are often too busy to be perfectionist about their writing, and even the best writers need an editor. Basic text editing (copyediting) is about two things:

• Removing errors – grammar; vocabulary; factual or formatting inconsistencies; and

• Improving readability through better logical flow, sentence structure, ordering of paragraphs, hierarchy and phrasing of headers, etc.

Despite advances in machine learning, human language and communication deserve careful attention. Whereas bullet points can so easily become unreadable lists of lists, full sentences and paragraphs are flexible and expressive. And for all the hype about memes, the written word is still the best medium for sharing meaning at speed, in depth, with subtlety and control. (Granted, musicians and other artists may disagree.)

More than that, good writing expresses what we value – even something of who we are. Writing communicates our many cultures and influences, and allows them to recombine.

For academic or professional audiences, text should not only be correct, precise and concise but also:

‘diplomatic, elegant and sophisticated, and should give the readers the feeling of being respected at same time as being informed or motivated. The best way to achieve this aim is by knowing the values, knowledge and interests of your audience.’

(Sky Marsen, Professional Writing: The Complete Guide for Business, Industry and IT. Palgrave Macmillan)

The more changes we make to a text, the more we are into structural editing (and eventually rewriting) instead of ‘plain vanilla’ copyediting. This requires analytical skills, an ear for tone, and lateral thinking.

• Improving structure can improve consistency with the overall objectives of the text, and improve traction with audiences;

• Cutting length can achieve the same, and brings new opportunities for structure: the two usually happen in parallel.

Rewriting

The web is full of text (by humans and/or software) designed to dodge copyright, chase traffic and personal data, and avoid the need for any original thought or creativity. There are better reasons for wanting to rewrite:

• To make a text more accessible to non-specialists or new audiences;

• To repurpose the text for different channels (with copyright permissions);

• To take working notes or a draft, often with multiple authors’ input, and bring the writing up to publishable quality;

• To achieve better consistency of tone and message.

Converting a PhD dissertation into a book is an obvious example. The publisher’s aim is to reach a new audience through better scope and structure, bringing the findings or argument right up to date, and leaving behind the form and tone of a dissertation. With guidance and input from an editorial professional, the rewriting process is an example of ‘development’ (or ‘developmental’) editing.

Another good example is sitting down to write a CV or contract bid: over-familiarity with the material can mean it is undersold. Regardless of your confidence level in writing, a second pair of eyes can be very helpful.

Rewriting notes, minutes and presentations into external facing content is an important follow-up to meetings and conferences. Producing a publication from various sources – conference papers, for example – involves work to ensure consistency of quality and tone. This involves talking it through and working together.

In practice, even copywriting (writing ‘from scratch’) is also a synthesis of ingredients already at hand. The client has models they wish to follow, sources they want to draw on and details they want to foreground: a more or less defined plan and vision. Writing involves parallel processes of adding, cutting, sequencing, (re)phrasing – and keeping in touch with this original vision.

Proofreading

Proofreading is the quickest and lightest form of editing: mainly an error check and with less attention to readability. Proofreading is for writing that’s already in good shape: it is the quality assurance process after other editors have already made their input. Or proofreading may be appropriate because sentence structure is pretty much determined by the content, for example with certain legal or technical texts.

Translations, even those of high quality, nearly always require light editing (for style and language) rather than just proofreading. I assist academics and others who want 100% accurate texts that do not read like a translation. I’ve worked with diverse ESL clients for whom English is a legal, academic, or business language.

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I have collaborated with Andrew a number of times and found him to be a knowledgeable, responsive, skilled and reliable editor. He has assisted me with communicating rights-based social research and advocacy to new audiences, displaying a sound grasp of the normative debates involved.

– Dr Su-ming Khoo, National University of Ireland Galway

I've had a big week with two job interviews which, I'm very pleased to say, have been successful. And see below: positive response from the procurement people. …I took in all your comments including for the cover email template. Great introduction, clear presentation and eloquent wording.

–  CV and bid editing client, London

Reads fluently and idiomatically: can be used as it stands without further revision. [No criticisms of any of the following]: Reference material and EU-specific terminology; spelling and grammar; style and register; clarity of expression.

– European Commission translations bureau quality check (industry/regulatory text, Baltic States)