Types of Editing

The word ‘editing’ generally brings to mind the act of looking for misspelled words, grammatical errors, and punctuation mistakes. Before computers and word processing programs, editing was often done with red pen to paper and strange marks indicating changes to be made to the written work. Now, on the computer screen, there are electronic ways of marking up and making changes to a manuscript. Most word processing programs have editing options built in, and I’m not just referring to ‘spellcheck.’ It’s helpful for writers to understand that editing comprises of more than marking what’s right and what’s wrong with words and punctuation. Actually, there are four types of editing that a trained editor can help you with.

Structural editing is when the written material is assessed for improvements on the organization and content. Things an editor will look for are whether chapters and sections of writing are in the right order, whether more material is needed, and whether any material needs to be deleted.

Stylistic editing is about improving on the clarity of the language and flow of the writing. The editor will focus on things like the tone and style of the author’s voice, eliminating jargon, and making sure the writing makes sense to the intended audience.

Copy editing ensures the correctness, consistency, and completion of the material. This is where grammar, spelling, and punctuation rules are checked, and much what many people think editing is all about.

Proofreading is sometimes confused with copy editing. Proofreading is meant to be the last look at a piece of work and is a systematic, visual proof of the material. The work will already be typeset and in final format, but not yet published. Here, the editor corrects any mistakes in typesetting, like spelling and punctuation errors. Depending on the work being published, images, captions, page numbers, paragraphs, and anything else gets a visual proof.

Many writers work in drafts because of the editing process – whether they edit their own writing or have someone edit for them. Depending on the the material, a general edit that includes most of the types described above can be done at once, or it may need to be edited in stages. An editor will help figure out what needs to be done and have their own style and process as well. Having even a basic understanding of the types of editing will help when working with an editor and coming up with a plan of action.

Happy writing…and editing!

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Merielle M Kazakoff