The following documents taught me how to think like an editor by showing me that as an editor I am the audience’s advocate first and foremost. I also learned I am the writer’s ally; I can merely make suggestions and whether they accept the suggestions is up to them. These documents showed me why empathy when editing other people’s work is so important, why clarity is needed for the audience and writer, and why editing with integrity should be taken seriously. From dealing with plagiarism, copyediting, macro-level and micro-level editing, comprehensive editing, to line editing, each challenge I faced I overcame, showing me in the process how to be a technical editor.
Technical Edit: Editing AI Generated Content
Original Word Document with Track Changes
*The PDF version does not show the complete level of edits as well as the Word Document with Track Changes does.*
The Editing AI Generated Content document was written for ENC 6216 Editing Professional Writing. In this course, I learned about the different kinds of editing, line editing, copyediting, comprehensive editing, macro-level editing, micro-level editing, and developmental editing. As a class we were each tasked with writing papers, responding to a conference call for papers, and creating content for our classmates to edit. The goal of this course was to give students a deep dive into editing professional writing and to provide students with an editing e-portfolio to walk away with. I spent the entire semester learning how to edit professional writing by reading textbooks and applying what I learned through editing my classmates’ pieces. This document was my last major addition to the editing e-portfolio for that course. I was given an assignment that required me to task ChatGPT to write an essay on a topic that I enjoyed, I was then supposed to run it through a plagiarism program, and then proceed with making the edits. In this document, I approached the piece as if a human wrote it, I wrote a transmittal letter at the top of the document, then made my edits and comments on the original document, then crafted what my completed edits would look like if implemented as a suggestion at the end of the document. I did this so that the writer would have everything in one document. This piece was challenging and rewarding because although it came together nicely, I ran into issues when using ChatGPT which I explain more closely in the document.
Sample of Comprehensive Editing
The Sample of Comprehensive Editing document was written for ENC 6216 Editing Professional Writing. In this course, I learned about the different kinds of editing, line editing, copyediting, comprehensive editing, macro-level editing, micro-level editing, and developmental editing. In this document, I conduct a comprehensive edit on a letter I wrote to my editor (classmate) about my call for papers response. After conducting this edit I believe this letter is more cohesive and provides more clarity for the reader. This document shows the process of my comprehensive edit from start to finish and explains the decisions I made.
Sample of Copyediting Basics
The Sample of Copyediting Basics document was written for ENC 6216 Editing Professional Writing. In this course, I learned about the different kinds of editing, line editing, copyediting, comprehensive editing, macro-level editing, micro-level editing, and developmental editing. In this document, I partook in a copyediting exercise in which I edited visual instructions for applying a vinyl sticker to a car and a sample resume. I quite enjoyed this editing process and I explain in detail the decisions I made when conducting my copyediting in the document.
Sample of Critical Thinking Editing
The Sample of Critical Thinking Editing document was written for ENC 6216 Editing Professional Writing. In this course, I learned about the different kinds of editing, line editing, copyediting, comprehensive editing, macro-level editing, micro-level editing, and developmental editing. In this document, I partook in an exercise that required me to pick a document and imagine it in use, and then I had to see how I could better that document for the audience. I chose the 5th Grade Science Textbook and detailed how I would approach editing it so that it was easy for the 5th graders and their teachers to read, whether that was straight through or selectively. I discussed the constraints, target audience, expectations for the document, and its intended use. I also explored how to keep the attention of the reader and not make the document too distracting.
Sample of Design and Style Editing
The Sample of Design and Style Editing document was written for ENC 6216 Editing Professional Writing. In this course, I learned about the different kinds of editing, line editing, copyediting, comprehensive editing, macro-level editing, micro-level editing, and developmental editing. In this document, I partook in an editing exercise in which I edited sentences for clarity. I also practiced editing sentences with lists and how to format them. I quite enjoyed this exercise and taking a deeper dive into micro-level and line editing which directly impacts style and design because of the layout implications of making those changes.