Alana Woods   AUTHOR        

This week is the last in my editing series. You’ve left some good comments and one particular question that I answered at the time but would like to revisit.

The question was: how do I know when an edit is complete?

My answer was this: when a feeling of satisfaction settles on me. And as editors usually work to deadlines I work for the satisfaction level and deadline to coincide.

In retrospect that was an unsatisfactory and glib answer.

Yes, I do wait for that satisfaction to settle but it’s much more methodical than that. At the start of a job I identify what needs to be done. I work my way through all of those needs, compiling a style sheet along the way. It’s when I’ve addressed all of the issues and put a tick through everything on the style sheet that the satisfaction settles.

Here’s a question for you. Have I persuaded you that the editor’s life is the one for you? Or have I completely put you off it?