Developmental Editing: Professional Writing & Rhetorical Strategies that benefit writers throughout their careers
FollowThis project focuses on a question that pertains to a number of different aspiring professional editors: how can I support the development of writers while I am editing their writing? This might seem like a surface-level question. Professional editors need to rely heavily on their own skills but also have to understand the importance of working with others and working through different development stages with their writers. It is glaringly obvious that editing involves checking for spelling, grammar, syntax, etc. However, editing is much more complex than only using style guidelines and checking for accuracy. Editing, and developmental editing specifically, is an effective way to help writers polish and refine their works through collaboration. Developmental editing is defined as a form of support and an ongoing process before and during the creation of different texts. Any professional writer needs to rely on developmental editing and collaboration so that they can grow in their skill set by learning from more qualified professionals. In the first stage of this project, informational interviews with professional/novice editors informed the development of a WordPress website featuring strategies for developmental editing. Professional/novice editors can speak to the importance of developmental editing in their jobs and help narrow the focus of the strategies featured on this resource site. The interview findings share, inform, and illustrate how developmental editing can be beneficial in any work setting. The second stage of this project focused on usability testing, a common research method in PWR. The usability testing included student subjects from the Writing Center as well as Elon News Network who reviewed the draft site and provided feedback on how helpful the site is. The participants filled out an online survey afterward about the usefulness of the site and their newfound understanding of developmental editing. This is an effective method since it reflects the beta testing of any new site and points out any major flaws for users. Ultimately this research — and the resulting web resource — can guide any professional writing student in understanding the ins and outs of developmental editing and how it can be applied to their intended jobs.
Learn more at: https://vimeo.com/415771993