A wonderful bundle of guidance for enduring editorial excellence
Grab a career’s worth of advice from a slew of accomplished writers, editors and storytellers.
Recently, I posed this question to members of the editing community on Twitter (AKA #edibuddies): “What are some things (beyond basic grammar, usage, or practice) you’ve learned along the way that newer editors may not know?”
As always, they selflessly shared their invaluable knowledge and expertise, and I’ve compiled their responses here. If you want to find editors to connect with, you’ll find links to their Twitter pages. If you’re looking for other editing-related hashtags, check out #AmEditing and #StetWalk.
The following tips are listed in no particular order.
Editing skills
“I always used to tell new hires that the cardinal rule of editing is similar to what is told to doctors: First do no harm. You’re going to miss things along the way. That’s fine, as long as you learn from your mistakes. The biggest sin is to insert an error that wasn’t there.” —David Yontz (@davidyontz)
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