What Type of Editor Are You? - Writing and Editing Advice by Greg Luti
- Greg Luti
- Jul 10
- 5 min read
A writing and editing advice post that encourages self-awareness during the revision process. In “What Type of Editor Are You?,” Greg Luti discusses the importance of understanding your natural editing tendencies so you can strengthen your craft more effectively.
The Most Important Question Before You Edit
There is always advice that you hear about improving as a writer, but I think there is a basic question that can be addressed by a writer to help them with their writing before they go into the details of the writing process. This question is, “What type of editor are you?” If a writer can answer this question and then act on it, they are already going to improve with their craft. Now, I don’t mean editor in the way that I do when I edit books for clients, as I tell them the difference between copy editing and developmental editing. I am talking about the writer’s ability to know what they do as they edit.
Vague Advice Doesn’t Help
If I tell you that to be a better writer, you should just become a better editor, then I would feel as though I am not really giving you anything of value. Vague advice without practical application is nothing more than empty words. It is like telling someone to be a better person, and they should be kind. I mean, do you have any examples of what that means? Are we talking about donating to charity or saying hi to a stranger, because those are two very different ways of being kind? But on the other hand, if I say that to be a better writer, you need to do one specific thing, then I am being a bit too particular at the moment, where a writer may not find that advice useful. I admit that later down the line, I can go into specific moments of editing, but for this piece, I think it is best to start with a simpler concept. To relate it to the better person analogy, it would be like giving someone the exact way to say hi to someone and giving them a recommended amount for the donation. It is a little much. The details are not needed in the beginning, especially if the intent and purpose are not defined.
Most of Writing Is Editing
When you write, most of the writing is actually editing. Think about that for a second. We call it writing, but it is not really writing if you edit the piece one hundred times. This means that you need to know what you see when you edit your work. If you don’t know what you are looking for when you edit, then I don’t know how you are expected to improve with it.
My Own Editing Style
I will use myself as an example here. I learned that I am a writer on the first draft who likes to get the idea on the page, in a very straightforward manner. That means no imagery or metaphors on the first try. This also means that when I am editing, I am to actively look for areas where the stories can be more artistic. I then add subtext to the stories, not on the first draft, but on the second, third, and so forth. Instead of blindly saying I am editing, I know that I am looking for a few things.
What I Look For When I Edit
What can I say that I am not saying right now? – Is there a character that can have something going on that I never mention to the reader, or perhaps another meaning to the entire piece I don’t actively promote?
Are there areas where I can improve the language, with metaphors and imagery? – Is there a spot that can use some poetic flair to add to the value of the piece?
Did I miss any gaps in the story so far? – Are there parts that I originally wrote that don’t make any storytelling sense, and do I have to connect the parts?
Are the beginning and ending good? – I always like to see if the beginning and ending are good, since the beginning pulls people in and the ending is what they leave with. If I have any good lines in me, I try to put them there.
Once I know what I am saying and I put it down in the first draft, the next edits are all about adding to what was said and refining it a little bit better.
Know Your Editing Patterns
This is why I stress that a writer should know what they are looking for when they are editing to make their overall pieces better. Maybe you misspell a bunch of words on your first draft, then you know that you are going to be spell-checking for one of your edits. Maybe you realize that you never really have much of a story for your first draft, and you allow the mood and tone to do much of the work. You then know you should focus on a coherent tale for your edits. Whatever you are doing in your edits, it is not what you did in your first draft. Know that, and then adjust accordingly.
Simple Advice Is Still Worth Following
This advice is rather obvious, but I relate it to something I have told my SAT students before. The first thing you should do to improve on the test is to actually not omit any questions. That is obvious, right? Yes, it is, but that does not mean you are not to address it. The questions the student omitted are areas of possible growth. The same goes for learning your editing style. It is obvious that one has to edit after their first draft and should know the style they like. But if that is the case, then how come there are writers out there who do not know or understand their editing style? Yes, it is simple, but that does not mean it is to be ignored either. Tying your shoes every day is basic and boring too, but you can’t really go walking without them.
Next time you write, have a list of things you want to do with a piece. Then, when you write up something, see how many of those things you did in the first draft. Whatever you didn’t do is what you are to focus on in your edits. If you are like me, you will start to see a pattern with your editing, in that there are certain things you should focus on, for no other reason than that you naturally write your first draft a certain way.
The Bottom Line
Sure, becoming a better editor will help you with your writing, but it would be helpful if you actually knew how to do
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