There are a few good reasons to bring in an external editor:
- When more than one person has contributed to a document, such as an annual report or industry paper;
- When you lack either the time or skill to polish a document, to produce the level of professionalism you require; and
- When you have been working on a document for so long that it has stopped making sense.
There are three basic levels of editing. After 10 years of editing business documents, wordsmith Kaye Hall can quickly assess the level of editing you require:
Copyediting/Proofreading/Basic
This is the simplest form of editing that goes over the basics such as spelling, punctuation, basic syntax and basic facts. Sometimes you’ve been staring at a document so long that you can’t see the mistakes any more. Most of the time this is the final edit after more heavy editing.
Line/Content/Stylistic/Heavy
This is the most commonly used type of editing. This is particularly necessary where there has been more than one author/contributor to a report or paper. The focus is on consistency. Any gaps in information or logic will be flagged as part of the editing process.
Substantive/Structural
This is the heaviest form of editing, which includes moving, deleting, adding or rewriting entire paragraphs, chapters or sections of the report. This requires skill in mimicking the author’s writing style.
Important: As copy changes will effect your formatting, please complete the editing process before you format your document.