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
- You don’t know what you don’t know. (Unconscious incompetence)
- You know you don’t know stuff. (Conscious incompetence)
- You know stuff. (Conscious competence)
- You do stuff. (Unconscious competence)
If you’re not sure what level you’re at, you’re at level 1.
Or, possibly, level 4.
Tips for Editors & Writers
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Editor Insight: Maria Georgiou
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Naked Writing – Starts Tomorrow!
A few years back, I ran a class called Naked Editing for newer freelance editors who wanted to follow along as I did an actual manuscript edit. I’m a developmental editor, so people were curious to see how I identified developmental problems and how I addressed them in the edit. It’s a very different process…
