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Writing and Editing Skills: How do you hyphenate your career?

How can someone effectively combine writing and editing skills? By establishing what I call a “hyphenated career,” precisely that of a Writer-Editor!

class image for book doctoring and ghostwriting.

Combine Writing and Editing Skills – Become a Writer-Editor

In my book The Business of Storytelling, I talk about how to create a writer-editor career, where you use what you learn as a writer to reinforce the editing side of your career and vice versa.

For those of us who enjoy taking on a variety of projects in our work, a hyphenated career can be a source of fulfillment and growth (both personal and career-related). I’ve always said I’m a better editor because I’m a writer, and I’m a better writer because I’m an editor.

The other day, a reader contacted me and said she was a different kind of hyphen: a bookseller-writer. I loved that! Her deep understanding of what readers enjoy reading makes her a better writer, and her understanding of writing and literature makes her a better bookseller.

A friend of mine is a great beta reader/big-picture editor because she’s also a visual artist (“Even painters info-dump,” she says.) I love the idea of there being all kinds of hyphenated careers possible for writers and editors.

If you’re considering extending your editing (or your writing) career in a new direction, you might enjoy exploring book doctoring and ghostwriting, and I have just the class for that starting October 7: Editorial Toolkit: Book Doctoring and Ghostwriting!


Tips for Editors & Writers

  • Line Editing for Filter Words

    Line editing for filter words is a skill to master for line editors. Tips on Line Editing for Filter Words Filter words in fiction are words that get in the way of the reader experiencing the moment. These often relate to senses: “I saw John get out of the car” instead of “John got out…

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  • The problem with unasked-for editing

    Getting work as a freelance editor is always a challenge, and my colleagues sometimes see an opportunity when a local business or other organization publishes a newsletter or blog post with errors. They ask me, “I’m thinking about pointing out the errors and offering my editorial services for pay. What do you think?” I think…

    Read more…

  • How Do I Get My First Editing Client?

    I’m frequently asked, “How do I get my first client?” This is one of those questions that can take three hundred pages to answer. But I did want to provide an overview answer to this question. First, I want to distinguish between a beginning editor who has no idea what they’re doing and needs to…

    Read more…

Join the Club!

how to become an editor

New to story editing? Begin at the beginning.

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