Why every writer needs an editor

The scope of editing is broad. Photo credit: Shutterstock

By  Mike Eldon Chairman of Management Consultancy The DEPOT

Ever since I entered the workplace many years ago, and long before I came to Kenya, my role has always included being the editor of the team. I feel particularly good about that, as English is not my mother tongue. The first language I spoke was Romanian, and it was only when my family arrived in England when I was three that I learned English.

Then, while an undergraduate student I benefitted from a trio of internships in France that not only greatly enhanced my fluency in that language but caused me to reflect on how the English language works by comparison and therefore to sharpen it.

Here in Kenya, English has only recently become a “first language”, and this is only for a small proportion of urban people attending schools where this is the sole language employed from a very young age. So the scope for editing is great, enhanced by the sense I have that for many people communicating adequately is good enough. It isn’t of course, and by not reaching higher standards such folk harm not only their personal brands but those of the organisations for which they work.

The scope of editing is broad, from dealing with a brief email to playing with a poem to handling a whole book. In a professional context, it can be reviewing the Terms of Reference for a contract; the proposal that responds to a ToR; and the report on the completion of the assignment.

Then there’s an uplifting script for a speech, making the minutes of a meeting more fit for purpose, and upscaling so much other raw written material.

Many years ago I wrote a column about the power of PowerPoint – if used properly. Which hardly anyone does. I do a lot of editing of PowerPoint slides, far too many of which are normal prose documents just copy-pasted as so-called visual aids. Actually, though, they are visual distractions, as my article spelt out.

Our job as editors is twofold: to reduce the negative by correcting mistakes, and to enhance the positive by improving the richness and flow of the language.

Read: Four powerful techniques of professional writing

Ours is not to completely rewrite a piece – although sometimes this would take less time than struggling with making the endless needed changes. If we have major issues the limit of our role is to pose questions and make suggestions, but the author remains the prime owner of their writing.

As I go about my editing chores I have observed certain patterns, and let me share the main ones with you: the use of the semi-colon instead of the colon; the mixing of American and English spelling in the same document; unnecessary and inconsistent first-letter capitals; and extra spaces.

No surprises, right? At a deeper level, there’s grammar to untangle; paragraphs to split or to merge; and repetition to slim down. I and my fellow editors expect to smoothen the flow and to liven up the prose – like with more interesting verbs.

When I am editing more than once with someone I urge them to observe the patterns in my editing, made clear by the “track changes” facility, so that next time I don’t need to make anywhere near so many changes.

Some impress me by indeed improving significantly, but most disappoint me by continuing to do what they’ve always done.

Another challenge we editors sometimes face is that we are handed a document just before the deadline for its submission (like a proposal), giving us very little time in which to perform. Oh well, we just have to live with that.

One editing assignment is a regular for me: every two weeks I take time to polish my articles for this column. And not just once but many times.

Getting feedback

It often surprises me that even after several rounds of editing I still find ways of improving what I see.

Read: Writing niche books for corporate bosses

My hope is that my self-editing will make my sub-editors at Business Daily redundant! Maybe their work, like mine as an editor, will be made redundant anyway one of these days, as AI spreads its influence.

Having read so far, where does this leave you? Is your writing standard as high as it could be? If you have sought the input of an editor do you pay attention to the patterns they reveal and have subsequent documents avoid them? And if you have not, should you seek feedback from an editor?

Mike Eldon is chairman of management consultancy The DEPOT, co-founder of the Institute for Responsible Leadership and member of KEPSA Advisory Council. [email protected]. www.mike-eldon.com