When I was an editor, my goal was to make whatever a writer had submitted better and yet still maintain the voice and tone of the original work. As an editor I also wrote pieces, but they were (for the most part) edited as well by someone else in order to improve the original work I’d submitted. A good editor can do that — and better still — enjoys doing that.
Once you start cranking out words to the level that I do, then you’re bound to miss things from time to time. Whether that is a word here or there, offer up grammatical mistakes, or simply create sentences that just run on way….too….long, it’s going to happen. That’s when having someone edit your work becomes not just a good idea — but an important part of your overall work.
Thanks to my experience in the editing realm, I’ve had fellow writers ask me to look at their work to see if I can tighten it up a bit or make subtle changes. I’m more than willing to help out every so often, but I’d much rather write than edit.
However, there is someone out there who would be more than happy to edit your web writing.
Jason Rehmus is someone who I’ve look to as editor in the past, and will do so again in the future. He’s launched a new venture, Sweating Commas, that I had the opportunity to test out during its early phases. When you’re looking at being more productive with your writing, bringing an editor into the mix is smart. It ups your efficiency (you write posts further in advance than if you were self-editing) and improves your effectiveness (your posts are all the better because you had another set of eyes — experienced eyes — look at them).
Not enough of the written work online has been edited, and Sweating Commas is a great place to go if you want to kick your written work up a notch (or several). You can find out more about Jason’s new venture here.
