Steta Publishers
  • Home
  • About
  • Work
  • Twitbits
  • Blog
Steta Publishers was a writing and brand language consultancy that ran from 2012 to 2016. We are no longer available for projects. Our founders now work here and here. 

What Makes a Good Editor?

20/8/2012

2 Comments

 
Many people presume editors just check grammar and spelling. What makes a good editor? The truth is, I don't really know. I am not a trained, professional editor, although I love editing. I’ve had the good fortune to work with some wonderful editors at the National Institute of Design. Now, my partner at Steta is an editor par excellence. So, I can just sum up a few things I have learnt from editors.

Ability to See the Whole, as well as the Parts
Editors analyze text from the holistic point of view, as well as look at each part closely. This ability gives them a birds-eye view as well as a grasshopper view. They can tell you several priceless things about your text, such as:
  • If the order of topics, or the structure of your text makes sense to a reader.
  • If the text is being repetitive, and where you can reduce that repetition.
  • If the titles and sub-titles are doing justice to the text. 
  • When and where you can add examples.  
  • Where you can reduce the length of text, and where you need to get into more detail.
  • Where you need to add some context.
  • When a certain expression or thought is inappropriate, not required, or is not adding anything significant to the text. 
  • If, what you, as a writer, are trying to convey is being communicated clearly.

Knowledge of the Quirks of Grammar
English grammar is a fascinating and confusing set of rules, with an equally large set of exceptions. Editors can point out things that the rest of us don't really see such as when to use the active voice and when to use the passive voice. Besides this, the many subtle nuances to language that editors may suggest, can streamline reading.

Ability to Check for Consistency
Editors make sure that the entire text is consistent. Lack of consistency can be one of the biggest hiccups in any written matter. Editors can easily point out inconsistent spellings such as say, color vs. colour. 

All in all, an editor improves on a writer's work. They tidy it up, maybe rearrange parts of it, and polish it so that it can shine. 

Armeen Kapadia
The author is co-founder and Director, Content Design at Steta
2 Comments
Sambit Kumar Pradhan link
6/9/2012 01:13:48 am

I've always had a huge respect for editors. However, that 9 month stint at R&P, NID made me appreciate them even more and in new light. I learnt more about writing there than I did at school. Despite the lack of any formal training, I discovered that I loved to edit too. If am competent enough in it only time will tell.

Reply
Armeen
6/9/2012 04:13:03 pm

Yes, editing is definitely an art! And it's so much more than just spotting mistakes, as most seem to imagine.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Authors

    Steta's founders, Urmilla Chandran and Armeen Kapadia author this blog. 

    We love letting our thoughts (crazy, stupid or smart) out for some fresh air.


    Archives

    October 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012


    Categories

    All
    Awards
    Blogging
    Books
    Bookstore
    Business Writing
    Classical
    Content
    Corporate
    Culture
    Design
    Dictionary
    Editing
    Grammar
    Help Authoring Tools
    Image
    Language
    Life
    Literature
    Media
    News
    Newspaper
    Personal
    Press
    Printing
    Problem
    Professional
    Punctuation
    Reading
    Retrospective
    Review
    Solution
    Story
    Technical Writing
    Technology
    Thesaurus
    Tools
    Typewriter
    Vocabulary
    Writers
    Writing


Home

Work
Blog
About


Copyright © Steta Publishers 2012–16. All rights reserved.