Editing Part 1

Overview

A good editor is always in demand; and with the internet, today’s editors can often work from virtually anywhere in the world. Alone, this Editing Part 1 course from Warnborough College does not make you into a professional editor, but it can lead to valuable career opportunities when combined with other courses that develop your knowledge and skills in journalism.

It is the editor’s role to improve the quality of the writing, whether it is their own or someone else’s work.

The scope of editing ranges from self editing, where the writer examines their writing and improves it as best they can, to professional editing, where an expert is employed by a publishing company to improve the quality of a piece of writing prior to publication.

There are many other facets of commercial publishing that require the skills of professional editors. These include commissioning publications; reviewing manuscripts; overseeing manuscripts through the production process; liaising with writers, publishers, printers and agents; writing blurbs, captions and press releases; and researching and organising pictures. In smaller organisations the editor may also be responsible for the design and publication of documents, newsletters, reports, magazines and books using desktop publishing software and equipment.

Editing involves several stages, all of which will be examined in detail during this course. In summary, they are:

• Reviewing the manuscript

• Structural (substantive) editing

• Copy editing

• Proof reading

• Checking proofs

Aims

• Understand the importance of clear, effective writing throughout all stages of the publishing process.

• Describe the procedure of manuscript assessment.

• Describe the procedures used by copy editors.

• Explain procedures used to prepare copy for printing.

• Describe the checks and procedures used in the final stages of preparing and printing publications.