An Editor Should Be a Writer

I do both. In fact, all the editors on my staff also write. I believe that all editors should also be writers.

Not everyone agrees with me—mostly editors who don't write. I've seen many good pieces ruined by editors who understood vocabulary, grammar, and syntax but not writing. Being edited by someone who doesn't also write professionally can lead to wooden, uninteresting writing.

A copyeditor or proofreader is something different. That level of editing doesn't require writing abilities. But if the editor has any authority to change the content, you had better make sure he or she understands writing—not by reading it, but by writing it.

Read Your Writing

Before sending off an article or chapter—and even before mentally stamping "ready" on your work—read it over and over and over again. Always take notes or make changes as you read. Try to improve it each time.

There is a point at which you have read it enough and you need to let go. But many writers err in the other direction, by not giving their work sufficient careful reading.

And be sure to read your article in its entirety. Computers and word processing have made it really easy to make changes. Sometimes writers don't consider how an inserted sentence or changed word can affect the whole of the document.