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Hey Reader,

Most people think editing is only copy editing or line editing.

You know, cutting redundancy and wordiness, changing passive to active voice, removing filler.

But once you get a hang of it, that stuff becomes second nature.

My favorite part of editing is the hardest part (in my opinion): the big-picture stuff.

Now, I’m not trying to ruffle anyone’s feathers. Copy editing is critical. It’s responsible for removing friction, which adds clarity. Nobody can stomach a wordy, messy piece of content.

But copy editing is more of a science. There are clear rules you can follow. Yes, it still comes down to stylistic preferences. But again, if you follow them, you’ll get it right.

Developmental editing, on the other hand, is more of an art. There’s no “right way” to structure a narrative. You have to rely on your gut.

This makes it super hard to explain.

But, you know I love a good challenge…

Lesson: The three types of editing

I love helping people put names to things. It demystifies the editing process. I can’t tell you how happy I was when I learned there were three types of editing.

I’d do each one naturally, but I didn’t have a process. It was a freaking revelation when I learned what each type was and why it was key to do them separately.

Before I knew about the three types, editing felt like wading through a baking dish of buttery mashed potatoes. Delicious, but messy.

After I learned about the three types, editing felt like eating a perfectly cooked three-course meal. Delicious, but clean.

Here are the three editing types:

1. Developmental editing (macro)
2. Copy editing (micro)
3. Proofreading (polish)

I do them in that order. So, I start with the big picture and then zoom in.

Why is this the best way?

Because developmental editing checks big stuff, like, “Does this section actually need to be here?”

I used to copy edit sections that ended up getting removed. It was a royal waste of time.

It doesn’t matter if you’re writing in long or short form. If you copy edit at the sentence level before you decide if that sentence, paragraph, or section deserves to stay in your draft, you are wasting your time.

Right, let’s look at each type of editing in more detail.

1. Developmental editing

Every piece of content needs a goal and purpose.

Otherwise, you’re speaking to everyone for no particular reason. That’s not very impactful.

Developmental editing ensures your content meets its goals and purpose.

Skip it, and your strategy goes to waste. (Hopefully, you have a strategy or general idea for why you’re producing content, be it long or short form.)

Here’s what developmental editing checks:

• Is the information strategically presented, and does it align with the chosen content format?
• Does the content guide the reader through a frictionless journey?
• Does the draft follow the outline (if there is an outline)?
• Does the narrative jump from A to C without giving the reader B?
• Are sections packed with value adds, or do some lack comparatively?
• Can readers visualize the concepts and extract takeaways they can emulate?
• Does it use the most relevant examples/stories/use cases?
• Is the information easy to digest and understand?
• Does it align with my own/my client’s ToV/PoV/stylistic preferences?
• Does it speak to the correct audience and their experience/awareness level?
• Does it include unique, data-driven, experience-based expertise and points?
• Does it include strategic CTAs, both subtle and obvious, that motivate readers to complete an action?

That’s a lot to digest. So, let me give you a quick example.

When I was a guest on Tommy Walker’s show The Cutting Room, I was editing a draft someone wrote on Pricing Strategies.

Because there wasn’t an outline, the first thing I did was skim the headers (H2s) to get a sense of the structure.

I noticed there was an entire H2 on cash flow. This felt odd because if you search Google for pricing strategies, you’re thinking about how to price your product. Cash flow is peripherally related and may need to be mentioned—but as a whole section? Unnecessary.

It’s a point of friction. It’s too unrelated to the question: “How the hell do I price my product?!” If you veer too far from intent, you’ll lose your reader because you’re not answering their most important questions. You’re waffling, which wastes their time.

The same is true in short form. If I’m penning a social post on how to write a scroll-stopping hook, I won’t talk about how to keep attention once you get it.

In this case, my ideal reader desperately wants people to stop and click “see more.” Duh, keeping attention is important. But let’s take it one step at a time! Don’t overwhelm your reader. Stick to the topic at hand.

My developmental editing process:

1. Return to the draft after time away
2. Re-read the outline/brief/notes (if they exist)
3. Read the draft WITHOUT editing
4. Leave comments about things that need to move/get removed

Your mindset must be laser-focused on “the big why”:

• Why does this piece of content exist?
• Why does my ideal reader need this piece of content?
• Why am I talking about this bit here, and do I need to keep it?
• Why haven’t I included an example here, and do I need one?

Not enough writers ask themselves why. I hope that changes for you today.

2. Copy editing

Once you’re happy with the structure and flow, zoom in.

Copy editing checks things at the paragraph and sentence level. You assess readability, flow, friction points, accuracy, and unique insights.

The best content is easy to digest, interesting, and engaging.

Copy editing ensures that within each section:

• The narrative flows smoothly
• Every sentence adds value
• Questions are answered fully (what + why + how)

Here’s what copy editing checks:

• Are sentences and paragraphs clear and concise?
• Is there a logical flow between sentences and paragraphs?
• Is it free of filler?
• Are sentences written mostly in active voice?
• Is it free of redundant words, phrases, or ideas?
• Does sentence structure vary?
• Are bulleted lists in the same tense (parallelism)?
• Are sources original and interpreted correctly?

I could create a whole course on how to do each of these well.

Oh wait, I am! It launches next week if you’re interested.​

This is the scientific part of editing. Once you learn how to do it, it’s fun. Well, if you’re a dork like me.

Here’s my favorite piece of advice when it comes to copy editing:

Never make readers guess “why?”

For example:

“Put your phone on airplane mode during deep work.”

Cool idea. Why?

“It takes 23 minutes to refocus after a distraction. You’ll get more done, faster, by eliminating notifications.”

This is the basis of a complete logical argument: Every time you make a claim, you must support it.

Ideally, once you do support it, you add a takeaway.

My copy editing process:

1. Reorganize/remove paragraphs
2. Make sure the reason/benefit behind every sentence is clear
3. Check for readability, redundancy, and all the stuff listed above

Your mindset must be laser-focused on the “little why”:

• Why does this sentence exist?
• Why am I writing it this way?
• Why should the reader believe me?

Once again, not enough writers ask themselves why. I hope that changes for you today.

3. Proofreading

All proofreading does is check for ultra-light mistakes.

Here’s what proofreading checks:

• Is it error-free (no spelling mistakes, awkward spacing, punctuation errors, dialect issues, etc.)?

Look, typos gonna typo. I rarely publish a social post without a typo. Such is life. Even if you publish a blog with a typo, you can fix it later.

This is more important for print, in my opinion. You can’t fix a spelling mistake in a book. That's painful.

My proofreading process:

1. Go back in for one final read
2. Catch tiny mistakes
3. Fix them

Your mindset must be laser-focused on the details:

• Does this apostrophe belong before or after the S?
• Did I remove all the U’s from Flavour?
• Is there only one space after every period/full stop?

By the way, I never turn on Grammarly until I get to the copy editing phase. It pisses me off when I’m trying to focus. And I also ignore half of its suggestions. It’s a bit drunk sometimes, I’d say.

The Loom Lesson

It's super hard to condense all three types of editing into one Loom lesson. I'll separate the three in my editing course and go deep on each.

So here, I figured I'd hark back to Loom feedback I gave when I was the Head of Content at Grizzle. This is feedback on a pilot project a writer submitted. It's being shared with full permission from the writer (she even posted about it at the time!)

​In this video, I explain both developmental and copy edits. I hope it helps!

Also, this was when my newborns were four months old and sleeping precariously, hence my semi-whispering voice.

Catch you next Friday!

Erica

P.S. My podcast episode on Louis Grenier's show Everyone Hates Marketers came out this week. I rarely listen to myself on podcasts because it makes me feel awkward, but I listened to this one, and I love it. Louis brings out the best in me.

This message I got afterward made me smile:

Go listen to it!

Erica Schneider

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