Robin Layne's Blog: From the Red, Read Robin - Posts Tagged "developmental-editing"

Since May of 2012, I have been taking U.C. Berkeley's extension program in editing, and as of August 6, 2013, I have finished all four consecutive online courses and am waiting to receive my certificate in the mail. It was quite an experience learning with adult students all over the world who share my passion in catching the errors in writing and helping others improve their self expression. The class was recommended by a local professional editor who taught a one-day class in starting your own editing business. Thank you for the tip, Charity Heller! And thank you for your class. I actually started my freelance editing and writing business, Robin Layne Enterprises, soon after taking Charity's workshop. I edit fiction as well as non-fiction, but fiction is my favorite. Besides my own freelance editing, I've had practice with fiction editing (and poetry editing, too--believe it or not, it can be done!) at Portland State University, where I earned my bachelor's degree in English, minor in writing, in spring 2012. All this after a 20-year break from school in which I raised a child by myself and thought I would never go back to college and finish what I started so long ago.

The editing sequence, I learned when I had almost finished it, includes editing of non-fiction only. A good number of us hope the program will be expanded to include fiction, in spite of learning that it doesn't pay as well. My last instructor, bless her heart, tried to convince me that non-fiction editing is better, to no avail.

The first class in the sequence is Grammar, Mechanics, and Usage for Editors, and includes lots of information about the appropriate terms and rules as well as practice copyediting. The second class is Introduction to Copyediting. Students almost exclusively use the track changes function in Word to do their editing. The third class is Intermediate Copyediting. The fourth is a big leap, Substantive Editing. This fourth and final course includes more copyediting practice with the addition of developmental editing (which I call seeing the forest rather than just the trees) and information about being part of a publishing team (something I had real-life practice with at PSU's Ooligan Press, but there is always more to learn). The final exam was another leap for me, long and difficult, and I wasn't the only person who wished I had another week to work on it. The best part of the exam was figuring out how to tackle the 3-part project, reinforcing knowledge about how I learn. For me, I had to write things down to think things through, so that was what I had to start with. The file in which I kept these notes evolved into the memo to the hypothetical authors I was editing for. I nibbled at the project from the sides, a bite from Part 3, Part 2, Part 1, and went back and forth until the thing took shape.

Everyone has a different learning style. Finding out yours is perhaps half the battle of getting an education. I hope you learn what works for you and that you never stop learning and growing all your life.