What Is Editing?

November 20, 2024 | Learning Center

If you’ve ever written a document for submission to a university or journal, someone has probably recommended that you get your work edited. But what is editing, exactly?

Editing is the process of reviewing and refining text to improve its clarity, consistency, and impact. This goes beyond just correcting grammar, syntax, and spelling. Editors also improve your sentence structure while aligning your writing with the intended audience and purpose of the document.

Editors work to improve readability while preserving the author’s voice and foregrounding their message — an essential step in producing professional, publication-ready content.

Why Does This Matter?

Editing is not just about fixing typos. It’s a structured process that strengthens your writing at different levels, from overall structure to sentence-level clarity and final polish. Regardless of the type of content you’re working on, reviewing your writing in this way makes it more effective and credible.

There are several types of editing, each with a specific focus.

• Developmental editing focuses on the structure and content of a manuscript, making it ideal for early-stage drafts. This type of editing involves reorganizing large sections of text, improving the flow of ideas, and ensuring that the document aligns with its intended audience and purpose.
• Line editing, in contrast, targets sentence-level clarity and readability. It refines word choice, improves tone, and refines the overall flow without changing the underlying structure, making it best suited to manuscripts that are already well-developed.
• Copy editing addresses technical accuracy and consistency. At this stage, editors correct grammar, punctuation, and formatting according to a specific style guide, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago, while checking for internal consistency and factual accuracy.
• Proofreading is the final step before publication or submission. It involves a detailed review to catch any remaining surface-level errors, such as typos, punctuation mistakes, and inconsistencies in layout.

Although many writers confuse editing with proofreading, these two activities happen at different stages of the manuscript preparation process and serve different purposes:

• Editing is a broader process that includes reviewing structure, flow flow, and tone—particularly in developmental editing and line editing.
• Proofreading is a final quality check for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and formatting issues. Traditionally, proofreaders used proofreaders’ marks to mark up these final changes, but we’re now more likely to use tracked changes in Microsoft Word or sticky notes in PDF files. Learn more about what proofreading involves.

The Editing Process

Ediors usually work in key stages, each focusing on a different aspect of the text. During the initial review, we assess the document’s purpose, audience, and overall structure. Next comes the revision stage, where we adjust sentences and paragraphs to improve clarity, tone, and logical flow. This is followed by technical corrections, where we correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling corrections; apply the rules of the relevant style guide; and review the formatting. The final stage in the process is a proofread, where we look for any issues that may have been missed during earlier rounds of editing.

Why Is Editing Important?

Editing helps you express your ideas with clarity and professionalism. In academic and business contexts, it sharpens accuracy and tone, while in creative writing, it strengthens narrative voice, characterisation, and storytelling. From theses and research articles to marketing materials and manuscripts, editing enhances the overall quality of your work.

Conclusion

Still wondering how to define editing? It’s the essential process that transforms a rough draft into a clear, effective, and credible piece of writing. No matter the context, a good editor makes sure your message is clear and your work is respected.

Want to learn more about how editing can help your writing shine? Contact us and let us help you get your writing publication-ready today.