Stages of Learning How to Edit

As we learn the craft, we go through stages of learning how to edit—I’ve decided there are four stages.

When you’re first learning how to edit, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the learning curve and to wonder when it would be realistic to start charging for your services. The answer is at Stage #3.

4 Stages of Learning How to Edit

  1. You don’t know what you don’t know. (Unconscious incompetence)
  2. You know you don’t know stuff. (Conscious incompetence)
  3. You know stuff. (Conscious competence)
  4. You do stuff. (Unconscious competence)

If you’re not sure what level you’re at, you’re at level 1.

Or, possibly, level 4.

developmental editing course to help in the stages of learning how to edit.
Developmental Editing Course Package

Tips for Editors & Writers

  • The Fine Art of Copyediting Fiction

    When copyediting fiction, it’s common to run up against issues that pit author preference against standard editing approaches. For example, in a story I wrote some years ago, the main character’s neighbor is referred to as “3-B” as that is her apartment number and the MC doesn’t know her name. Fine. She can be referred…

    Read more…

  • Let the manuscript teach you how to edit it

    One of the lessons I’ve learned over many years of editing is that you have to let the manuscript teach you how to edit it. Every manuscript is different and every manuscript needs a different touch. Even when an author does something I’ve seen many times before, I have to edit for that particular manuscript,…

    Read more…

  • Helping Authors Strengthen Story Settings

    The setting of a novel consists of multiple elements, big and small, that nest inside each other like those little Russian dolls. We might show this hierarchy of settings like so: If you think about it, the micro setting of “the living room of 601 San Mateo Road Apartment 16” implies the existence of all…

    Read more…

Join the Club!

how to become an editor

New to story editing? Begin at the beginning.

Similar Posts