The Write Editing

  By Martin Wiles Those dreaded edits. No writer enjoys red Track Change marks all over their perfect-in-their-mind piece of writing. And writers, many of whom are editors, certainly don’t enjoy funneling through them and doing what the editor suggests. Yet every piece of writing—no matter the type or genre—needs editing. The question is which type.   Among the familiar types of editing are substantive (structural, content, developmental), copyediting, and proofreading. An unfamiliar type, however, might be line editing. This post will focus on the differences between copyediting and line editing and which one should precede the other. Substantive editing examines how the writer presents ideas, not just the words they use. This entails logic, organization, tone, and suitability for the audience. This type of editing can include any or all of the following: reorganizing chapters or scenes, rewriting weak paragraphs, and removing redundant material. Often, an editor wil...