Proof Pros: on how (and why) we strive to edit better

What drives professional editors to improve? Why do they edit, and what contribution do they want their editing to make to their clients and the world? Seven highly experienced editors share their personal takes - from the philosophical to the practical - on the pressures and joys of striving to be a better editor.

In honour of The Edit Better Letter's first birthday, the Proof Pros were asked to explore what the concept of 'editing better' means to them.

Editing is a highly personal, individual skill. Editorial organizations have codes of conduct and recommended practice, but ultimately how we edit - and how we run our editing businesses if we're freelance - is down to us. To find, maintain and grow our editorial 'why', we must pair professional development with personal reflection (as I'm fond of saying, longevity as a freelancer comes from knowing yourself).

Between them, these seven editors have been 'editing better' for more than 95 years. From the satisfaction of learning new skills to the joy of delivering an edit that aligns with our personal ethos, be inspired by what drives them.

Melanie Thompson: 'Every day we editors start afresh, with a new challenge'

I hope that my colleagues will be providing very useful answers to this question, about tools and techniques that editors use to push towards greater efficiency and accuracy - because I'm not going down that path.

My first reading of the question alighted on the word 'idea' and that sent my mind off at an unexpectedly philosophical tangent.

My inner cynic immediately thought of Sisyphus - the mythical king of Corinth who was condemned by the Greek god Zeus to roll a boulder up a hill for eternity, never completing the task because the boulder always rolls back to the start.

On the face of it, an editor's work is not so different: eat, sleep, edit, repeat. Yet the task feels anything but Sisyphean. That's because although editing day after day certainly sometimes feels endless, it is very far from pointless. Every day we editors start afresh, with a new challenge to make the text 'better' and to carry out our duties 'better' than we did the day before.

People who are not editors assume we have a passion for attaining perfection. But one of the first lessons new editors must learn is that 'perfection' is a rarely obtained goal.

At the end of every editing day we should reflect, for a moment, on the day's tasks well done - and note the things that could have been better. Then set out the next morning with the refreshed intention to edit better all over again.

Andrew Hodges: 'It's important for me to slow things down'

For me, editing better does not mean striving for perfection. If, like me, you sometimes edit as part of a team where you get to see what the proofreader found after your copyedit, you'll know that perfection is impossible, and it's important to strive for good enough.

For me, editing better means creating the container that allows me to do the best job possible. This involves:

• Investing in the right resources and training
• Gathering a great network around me of fellow editors - people I can ask when I'm stuck or when my brain doesn't compute
• Charging rates that mean I won't rush a job
• Learning from my mistakes - feeling the highs and the lows
• Picking the right kinds of clients that allow me to grow as an editor and that help me lift up my network too.

Here's one sobering example: recently, I slightly rushed a sample for a packager client. When I received feedback, it was clear to me that my sample hadn't been up to scratch - I hadn't consulted the style guide enough, and I'd made a couple of shaky comma decisions to boot!

This was an invaluable experience because it emphasized for me how I want to - and should - run my business. It's important for me to slow things down, and it's very difficult to do a good edit if you're working long hours, because of how mentally taxing line/copyediting is.

In some workflows - publishers, self-publishing - I wouldn't have received that feedback, and so I'm very grateful to have organized my business in a way that makes such insights possible (that's the 'creating the container' part!).

Amanda George: 'Editing better means continuing to demonstrate the value that human editors bring to projects'

Editing better means a few things to me. First, it means editing better than I did when I first went freelance. In fact, it means editing better than I did yesterday, because every job and client interaction offers us an opportunity to hone our craft and improve our offering. For example, the number of errors we pick up increases as we gain experience, because our brain adapts to the various processes going on - which is why we charge less when we start out. And with more experience, we can focus more on word choice, sentence structure and syntax, while also fixing errors, inconsistency issues and formatting.

Editing better (for me) also means not isolating myself (something I did for far too long). Getting active on LinkedIn and joining the CIEP have boosted my knowledge and confidence almost as much as some of the training courses I have done. Having edibuddies has also been a revelation. There's no doubt we can learn so much from our peers and other professionals - not to mention having a safe space to ask questions and seek comfort if we're having a bad freelance day.

Finally, editing better means continuing to demonstrate the value that human editors bring to projects. If we do our job well, we not only spot errors and check grammar, we also use our human brain and emotional intelligence to bring the words on a page to life. And, importantly, we become a trusted ally for our clients - someone they can turn to for both editorial and moral support when they need it.

I hope to continue editing better for many years to come.

Debbie Emmitt: 'One aspect of editing better is increasing my editing efficiency'

Happy first birthday, Edit Better Letter!

For me, 'editing better' is threefold.

1. Increasing efficiency

During my seven years as a freelance editor, I've become more efficient. This means my clients receive their edited manuscript more quickly and my hourly rate has increased without me having to raise my prices too often.

I've increased my editing efficiency by:

• using macros and supporting tools (not AI) to capture 'technical' issues so I can concentrate on improving flow, pace and author voice
• regularly consulting reference materials (e.g. New Hart's Rules, CMOS), so I remember style choices and therefore look up certain elements less often
• developing systems, checklists and templates for before, during and after an edit.

2. Improving my service provision

Efficiency also feeds into this, but I'm referring more to continuing professional development (CPD).

I've completed several highly valued editing courses, such as those offered by the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), of which I'm an Advanced Professional Member.

I also attend webinars and conferences, read books and articles about the writing and editing craft, and network frequently with other editors and proofreaders regarding best practice.

All these activities help me to 'edit better', providing a service that is continually improving.

3. Growing my editing business

When I started as a freelance editor, I didn't know what I wanted to niche in. I edited most types of content, including all fiction and nonfiction, academic content, children's books and more.

Over the years, I've discovered where my strengths lie and the kinds of content I enjoy most. I now concentrate mainly on mysteries/thrillers, historical fiction, books set in France, memoirs/biographies and web content.

As time has gone on, I've removed some services (e.g. transcriptions) and added web-mentoring for editors and authors to my repertoire (thanks to my 'previous life' working in web for twenty years). I've also self-published my books Improve Your Editor Website and Improve Your Author Website. I'll shortly be launching a wider mentoring provision to help new editors find clients and establish their editing business.

I can't wait to see what the future will bring!

Ayesha Chari: 'The relief of taking an editorial stand and the flexibility to change course'

My household has an allotment. The plot was a tangle of weeds and human clutter when we got it a year ago, but the better we got to know it, the more we realized how much the land had been cared for, how much it was going to give back. What I didn't know then - and am continually learning - was how it is going to nurture us to do better, be better, feel better.

Cliché. Until the work and non-work strings all connected like a well-executed spiderweb. This same past year has been difficult in business for many in the publishing industry, but particularly for independent editors, proofreaders and all our creative colleagues. I've lost contracts and long-standing clients to changing markets and economies, received no enquiries from my usual public profiles, struggled with fractured supportive communities in virtual spaces, had few relevant leads (even fewer paying a reasonable fee), and double-doubted every professional and personal decision. Not to mention the artificial two-letter invention that is the future we want to back-pedal nor the global destructions we're living through.

What is better then? The patience that I'm relearning to allow myself; the calm needed to take a test, do a sample edit, without ego; the relief of taking an editorial stand and the flexibility to change course, make a better choice for everyone involved. The humility to accept failure without blame - seeds don't always germinate, not for lack of water, warmth or nourishment; and the wisdom to stay curious, sensitive, present. Editing better, then, is not perfection, but excellence. Not simply an unquestioned higher standard, but one that respects the text, the writer, the reader, and the possibility of a better future. It's the harmony between holding on and letting go. Explained simply by Betty Botter buying better butter to make the bit of bitter butter better butter. Or maybe it was batter. It doesn't really matter!

A healthy way to make progress is to strive to improve, for ourselves and each other.

Katie Chambers: 'Editing better is about lighting the way forward'

Editing better means more than refining a manuscript - it's about fostering growth with authors, processes, and purpose. On the surface, editing better involves skillful changes. But beneath that, it's a form of empowerment: helping a novelist grow in their craft. My style is not for everyone, as I am a hands-on editor: I make a lot of changes directly to the text. But I do this to model, teach, and show, then later I flag instances, prompting them to make changes based on the craft concepts I modeled earlier. With nonfiction writers, I do more of the done-for-you method (hands-on throughout the whole manuscript) because they aren't looking to grow as a writer, but by the end, they still learn, as I explain why I made the changes I did. Sure, it takes more time to explain my stylistic edits for all authors and write examples for authors, but I take the time because growth is where it's at.

As a former teacher, now freelancer, I've learned that 'better' doesn't mean 'perfect'. It means intentional. Sustainable. Thoughtful. It means never believing I've 'arrived'. Editing better means continually investing in my craft, learning how to offer better feedback, queries, and changes. It means evolving my workflows and staying open to growth. I've built robust systems - from detailed project trackers to collaborative feedback processes - not just for efficiency but to support quality without burning out.

When I started my editing business, I didn't imagine I'd one day lead a team. But editing better also came to mean leading better - mentoring new editors, streamlining operations, and creating a business that uplifts the people within it. It's about improving the way I work and the way I live.

Ultimately, editing better is about lighting the way forward - for my clients, for my team, and for myself. It's a balance of head and heart, strategy and intuition, detail and big picture. It's the quiet work of helping someone write their future, and it's the loud joy of knowing I've done that well and I didn't lose sight of myself and my family in the process.

Lisa de Caux: 'When my learning adds value to my clients, that's even better!'

The idea of editing better means improving the service I provide to my clients.

I'm a big fan of continuing professional development. I love learning, and I'm keen to find new ways to learn and new topics to explore. When the learning adds value to my clients, that's even better!

I make incremental changes to my own systems so that my business is continually improving. The systems create a 'virtuous circle'. My business improves and my service to my clients improves. Everyone benefits.

And that gives me great pleasure - I feel like I'm 'editing better'.

The Proof Pros are all independent contributors. Each person's words are their own and are not necessarily endorsed by the other contributors.