Quick Editing

Editing is normally a painstaking process. English is complicated, and there are many things an editor may need to look up or puzzle out. For me as an editor, sometimes a tough question where the rules are ambiguous is one of the fun parts of the job.

But sometimes, you as the author don’t care quite that much.

Sometimes, you just want an editor to take a quick look at something. The project isn’t a very formal one; there’s no stylebook it has to comply with. And you’re in a hurry or trying to save money.

When all you really need is to make sure the document is in reasonably good English, but you want it done swiftly and cheaply, you ask for a quick edit. In a quick edit, I try not to stop to think, and I rarely look anything up; I just go with what looks right to me. But my sense of what looks right is better trained than most people’s, so for many authors, this will still be a significant improvement. And because I’m not taking the time to look up the subtle points, I can get the project done in less time than I would normally take — and that means I can get the document back to you faster and charge you less.

If you have something that needs a quick look, let me know.