The marketplace is filled with good editors. These are the individuals who can put together a coherent sentence and edit 10, 1,500-word blog posts in one day. However, once you read one or two of their edited pieces, everything starts to sound the same. Good editors help writers convey a thought or idea and nothing more. They forget that their role as editors is not to mold writers to their liking, but to help writers find their voice.
Whether you are about to hire an editor as a permanent member of your team or start working with one on a freelance basis, it's important to know that not every editor will help you or your team achieve greatness. Finding a great editor is hard.
Like any profession or craft, great editors work hard to improve their skills. Throughout my editorial career, I’ve been mentored by several great editors. Following are the four character traits each of these editors encouraged me to nurture and live by every day.
The Four Qualities
Great editors:
Are inquisitive about language.
Work hard at perfecting their craft.
Don’t compromise their editorial standards.
Help writers become their best.
1. They Are Inquisitive
Editors love words, punctuation marks and grammar rules. Whenever a new word is added to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary or the Associated Press makes a change to its style book, an editor cheers (and probably in silence).
Great editors, however, both cherish and respect the technical and creative aspects of language. These individuals understand that while grammar rules help to standardize language, there is nothing wrong with throwing convention out the window, as long as doing so is justified. Great editors also read furiously to understand what works and what doesn’t, always with an eye toward improvement.
2. They Work Hard to Perfect Their Craft
All great editors take their work seriously. Like any business professional, great editors understand that the work they do directly impacts a project’s success. This is why great editors work hard at perfecting their skills.
However, just because great editors understand the nuances of the written or spoken word, doesn’t mean their learning curve is over. With each new generation and technological advancement comes change. Great editors know they must embrace change so they too can continue to contribute to society through their work.
3. They Don’t Compromise on Their Editorial Standards
You’ve probably heard about the different editorial stages. In their simplest form, these stages consist of substantive editing, copy editing and proofreading. While you may repeat these stages more than once, the concept is clear. Each stage is less involved than the one before it, from the content creation standpoint. Progression through each stage also brings you one step to sharing your work with your audience.
Great editors know which stage is needed based on the writer’s work. In other words, you might hire an editor and request that only proofreading services be rendered. For the most part, editors will honor the request. But, what happens if the content submitted requires further fine-tuning? A great editor will point this out. After all, wouldn’t you rather work with an editor who is unwilling to compromise on the quality of your finished product?
4. They Help Writers Become Their Best
Behind every great writer, there’s a great editor. Good editors fix sentences. Great editors help writers find the right sentence. Good editors know when to use a semi-colon and when to start a new sentence. A great editor will help the writer understand the difference between the two.
The reason why great editors go beyond fixing words on a page or ensuring the right punctuation mark is used is simple. Through their craft, and with every comment, great editors educate. Although some editors might be kinder than others in their approach, the result is the same: The writer improves and grows. And that is what great editors do: They help writers evolve.
Bottom Line
Hiring a great editor, like finding the right writer, takes a bit of time. However, once you find the perfect editor for you or your team, you’ll know. This person will not only improve the caliber of your writing, but challenge you to think of better and new ones to tell your story. And creating stories that resonate and engage with your audience will help you be one step closer to achieving your business goals.
Comments