Editing Content: What to Consider, Types, and Importance

Be it personal or professional, content is paramount for all successful communications. Your message is conveyed through your words. One mistake and the entire effect is sabotaged. In online communications, your content (blogs, emails, articles, SOPs etc.) should be clear and concise. It should be aimed to convey the message powerfully and in the shortest time possible. For this to be realised, one must keep their content relevant, truncated and error-free.

Though it sounds simple, it is one of the most intricate jobs that needs a good pair of eyes, sound knowledge of the subject, and an excellent command of the language. Usually, there are no rules to writing, but there are a few to editing.  

What to consider while editing content?

If you are a writer, you already know the basics of writing, but editing content is altogether a different universe. It will consume a lot of your time and energy before you get there, and in the end, one or two errors will go unnoticed.

Content editing is an art where the emphasis is given to style, tone, grammar and comprehensiveness of the writing. The aim is to make it clear and easy for the reader.

The writer gets too attached to his writing and cannot see the bird’s view. To give it a fresh perspective, an editor needs to read it. These editors are not only experienced professionals but also have the common man’s eye that can bring the reader and writer close.  

Types of Editing

Conceptual editing- It is also called developmental editing or manuscript appraisal. The rough idea gets an opportunity to get organized through this type of editing. Rather than concentrating on words, grammar, or punctuation, the concept gets structured. This type of editing is done at the very inception. The main points of the writing are highlighted so that the message gets amplified. It does not include rewriting. Instead, it organizes the ideas of the author.

Questions like the following must be asked while conceptual editing:

• Is there any key information left out?

• Are there any irrelevant points in the written piece?  

• Is it persuasive enough for the readers to go through it?

• Does the flow of ideas make sense?

Structural Editing- It is also called evaluation editing. The editor looks for structure, style, completeness, and flow of writing. The writers are given suggestions based on their writing style and are asked to review them. This type of editing is done after the completion of the piece. The writer may also receive suggestions to improve content, readability and flow of thoughts in their writing.

Substantive Editing- This is also called full editing. This involves a thorough inspection of the manuscript for sentence structures, ideation and choice of words. The focus is also on the tone and voice of the content. For it to work well, the editor should be well-versed in the topic of the written piece and have sufficient knowledge about the target audience.  A substantive editor moves the paragraphs around and logically organizes the writing.

Line Editing- This is also called stylistic or comprehensive editing. It is meant to refine the tone, vocabulary, message, and sentence structure. A line-by-line review of the writing is done to make sure there are no syntax errors along with checking for the imagery, punctuation, and grammar to get the best out of each line. The editors concentrate on every word in the sentence and evaluate its impact on the sentence as a whole. Fragmented and runout sentences and cliches are identified and suggestions for improvement are offered.   

Copy Editing- It is not much different from the line editing but gets more critical. The grammar, punctuation and typo errors are checked during this stage. It is the final step in editing, and it precedes proofreading. The job is to ensure that the writing is completely error-free and can fulfil the intended purpose.

Content editing- Importance

Never undermine the importance of a thorough editing of content. It provides the clarity and conciseness needed in writing. After all, no one wants to be misinterpreted or lead the readers astray and lose their purpose. After editing, things become organized structurally and tend to be more logical than the primary draft. The edit forms clear paragraphs that are more appealing to the readers as the ideas get the right break. This helps the content unclutter and present the points sensibly.

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