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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    The other day I came across a social media post from an email marketer who said you would outwork 90 percent of your competition just by showing up every day! I nearly sprained my eyeballs from rolling them so hard. If you can outwork your competition just by showing up, you are dealing with very…

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  • The Most Important Question to Ask About Potential Clients

    Editors who are just starting out or who are moving in new directions usually have an idea in mind of the work they want to do. Often this starts out as a very broad concept: they want to help novelists write better stories. Then they realize this is too broad – where do you find…

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  • Accountability to Your Future Self

    While I love being a freelancer, there are certain tasks that I don’t enjoy doing. For example, marketing. Or updating my website. I know I need to do them, but sometimes my motivation is lacking. It’s easy to keep kicking that can down the road: “I’ll do it later.” One way I get around this…

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how to become an editor

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