Editing is the most underrated skill in any creative endeavor.

The First Word

Brandon Gheen took to Twitter the other day to share what he thinks about editing. It went like this:

"Editing is the most underrated skill in any creative endeavor. Whatever you make, it can improve with some skillful elimination."

The "skillful elimination" part is the key. Simply moving words around may help, but more often than not some of those words have to go. As Porter Anderson put it in a past Winning Edits interview, "People who chafe and complain about good editing are too shortsighted (or too naïve) to understand that what is changed or cut out is never missed by the reader." That may be a bit brash, but it anchors the point rather well.

The point in question isn't merely to work with a good editor. The more important argument, which is sadly lost rather frequently in the conversation, is that editing is a discipline all creatives should embrace themselves. Experimenting with editing yourself will not only make your work markedly better, it will also position your work to be improved that much more should you choose to collaborate with a professional editor.

Ultimately, editing is not a skill reserved only for editors. Editing is a perspective on the creative process. True, editing and editors may be rarely understood. But that doesn't change the fact that, as this beautiful homage to the editor states, "What we choose to take away is as crucial as what we choose to keep."

Thanks for reading!

Matt Gartland
Editor and Founder, Winning Edits