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

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  • Where Do Freelance Editors Get Work?

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  • When to Give Up

    It’s time for my annual rebuttal against the clouded thinking that you hear in clichés like, “Many people quit just before they’re about to succeed!” When I read or hear something like this, I always wonder, “How on earth would you know that?” Starting and building a freelance editing business is hard. It requires a

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