Last Thursday, it was my privilege to address the Utah Valley Writers on editing. The title of my presentation was Editing: Polishing the Diamond in the Rough. (Just a side note, if you would like me to address your school, class, writing group, or conference, please don’t hesitate to contact me). I promised the attendees (and my blog readers) that I would post some of the notes and other information on this site.

As presentations and blog writing are two different “beasts” I won’t post the PowerPoint without commentary.  So using that experience as a guide, I’ll write a series on editing. There, I covered tools of writing that, if employed, would make editing much easier, the different levels of editing, and finally finished up the lecture answering some questions that the members of the group provided on the difference between freelance editors and publishing house editors.

Please follow the links below to find the posts that cover this material. They will be highlighted once the section is live. I will change the order and some of the materials (adding some and deleting some) from the actual presentation (just a heads up for those that attended). As a reader of these posts, if you have any other questions that you have for the final section, please ask in the comments and I would be happy to answer them.

• Levels of Edits
• The First Draft Debate (free-write or outline)
• Types of Writers (knowing your strengths and weaknesses as a writer, to improve your craft, and to become a better writer)
• Ideas (for self editing and critique group editing)
• Finding an Editor
• Answering any Extra Questions

Finally, just a reminder that editing is a very important part of writing, but it is quite different than writing. It requires a different set of skills that, if learned and used, will help improve your writing and your critiquing. It can also be a really fun part of the process as you help craft and polish a finished product that will be appreciated for years to come.