I’ve found that when most people think of editing, they typically think of fixing spelling and grammar. This is definitely part of editing, but it’s far from the whole story.
In fact, there are a few different types of editing, and each type focuses on improving different aspects of a piece of writing.
In this post, I’ll give a quick rundown on the three primary types of editing. All three types of editing are needed for most pieces of writing, and knowing what they are can help you better polish your work.
First, though, a quick disclaimer: While this post contains what I’ve found to be the most common terms and definitions, there is no universally agreed upon set of editing terminology. Exact definitions may change depending on the industry you’re writing in and the type of content you’re writing. That being said, these terms can give you a good starting point when thinking about editing.
1. Developmental Editing
Developmental editing involves looking at the bigger picture and making sure a piece’s narrative or argument is compelling. This is the type of editing that happens first, and it’s especially important for long-form content.
The term “developmental editing” is sometimes used interchangeably with “structural editing” because it addresses the overall “structure” of a piece — in other words, the order that ideas are presented in.
Developmental editing generally answers these two questions:
- Does the piece make the point it sets out to make?
- Is the piece clear and well-organized throughout?
A developmental editor is not in charge of fixing grammar or spelling. Instead, their job is to add, remove, rearrange, or rewrite entire sections or paragraphs. They may also send notes to the original writer asking for clarifications, additional content, or rewrites.
2. Line editing
Line editing is also sometimes called copyediting, though some editorial houses define these terms slightly differently. Either way, line editing involves looking at content at the sentence level. Line editors polish the language used, tweaking it until they find the exact right tone.
Improving grammar is a big part of line editing, but not the whole part. Line editing also involves correcting for things like:
- Sentence structure
- Clarity
- Tone
- Readability
Essentially, line editors and copyeditors are wordsmiths. They take writing that simply gets the job done and turn it into writing that’s enjoyable to read.
3. Proofreading
Finally, proofreading gets into the nitty-gritty aspects of writing and grammar. Proofreading means giving a piece a close look to make sure there are no errors before it goes to publication.
Proofreaders look at things like:
- Grammar
- Spelling
- Typos
- Layout (if applicable)
Everything else should be buttoned down before it gets to the proofreader. They’re the last line of defense before your content goes live.
Do You Need All Three?
Now that you know what the three main levels of editing are, the next question is, how do you make sure they’re all addressed? Do you really have to hire three editors for each piece of content?
If you’re in content marketing, three separate editors is probably overkill . Typically, only bigger publishing companies have different people in each of these roles. Content marketing teams usually have one editor, often freelance, and the content doesn’t suffer for it — provided they’ve chosen their editor carefully.
However, I do recommend making sure all three levels of editing are addressed. For shorter content, like social copy or short blogs, you can get away with having one editor check for everything. For longer content, like ebooks or white papers, you may want to have a couple editors or find someone on the marketing team who can collaborate with your editor.
If you’re writing a full-length book, I do recommend at least one person for each level of editing, as it’s a lot harder for one person to catch everything when working on a lengthy piece (no matter how good they are). And if you’re writing something that’s going to be printed instead of published digitally, a dedicated proofreader is a good idea no matter how long the content is, since you won’t have the option of editing after the fact.
Editing is often a more complicated and nuanced art than most people realize. I hope this explanation of the three main types of editing has demystified it a little and made it easier for you to bring your content up to the next level. And if you need some editing done — of any type — I’m here to help.
Nicole D'Angelo 