How to Choose the Right Type of Editing for Each Document

Scriptorium Team

Feb 254 min read

The term editing encompasses a great deal of tasks, which is why you’ll often hear editors ask, “What type of editing are you looking for?”

It can be hard to answer this question when you’re not too sure what type of editing is out there. Here at Scriptorium, we use four forms of editing as we follow the national standard set by Editors Canada.

An individual holding a red pen and marking a document with editing marks.

Types of Editing

Structural Editing
Stylistic Editing
Copy Editing
Proofreading

Depending on your project needs, editing can include all four types—but a word of caution: the time dedicated to each type varies, particularly if you require a structural or stylistic edit. These two forms of editing involve going back and forth with our client, as it often includes moving content and ensuring language is consistent for your audience.

Structural Editing

Structural editing (also referred to as substantial editing) is the more complex editing standard. This type of editing looks at the overall document and addresses concerns with organization and content. Like with all stages of editing, structural editors want to make sure your target audience is being addressed and will rearrange your sentence and document format to ensure clarity in your context. Structural also delves into adjusting wording for plain language, when required (Editors Canada, 2024).

Stylistic Editing

Though many editing requests focus on structural, copy, and proofreading, stylistic editing is just as important as the other three. Editors Canada (2024) identifies stylistic edits by looking at five areas within a document:

Clarity: Improving paragraph and sentence structure;
Coherence and flow: Ensuring smooth transitions, coherence, and parallelism;
Language: Ensuring consistency in tone, voice, points of view, etc.;
Stylistic editing of narrative: Ensuring text is engaging, the mood of writing matches the content, the mechanics match the content, etc.; and
Stylistic editing in plain language: Ensuring words and phrases are relevant for the intended audience (Editors Canada, 2024).

Copy Editing

Copy editing, though a type of editing on its own, often occurs within all stages of the editing process—even proofreading—depending on the project. Copy editing encompasses revisions for grammatical and spelling errors, along with punctuation and usage (Editors Canada, 2024). Copy editing does not, however, focus on restructuring a document or revising text for flow. As with all stages of the editing process, copy editors respect the revisions that have come before them and will only query or comment on a document if a structural or stylistic question comes up.

Proofreading

Proofreading, in a traditional sense, focuses on minor sentence and formatting errors. Proofreading, as discussed in the Scriptorium Book Club’s latest book, Last But Not Least: A Guide to Proofreading Text, is the last stage of the editing process. Proofreading usually involves an editor who was not part of the first three stages of the editing process. For this edit, the document needs a fresh set of eyes to catch those remaining spelling and punctuation errors, along with formatting hiccups that can occur right before a document goes to “print” or PDF.

The Process

Now that we know what types of editing there are, how do we identify which ones we need and what the process is?

A typewritter sits on a desk, with a quote above that states, "The term editing encompasses a greal deal of tasks, which is why you'll often hear editors ask, 'What type of editing are you looking for?'"

The first two types of editing occur after the first (or third!) draft is created, and our client is ready to have another individual review it to catch any gaps in information and to ensure the content makes sense.

It is typical that our client or their subject matter experts review this draft at least once (or twice) to ensure the revisions are correct. We often find that during these stages, our editors’ questions lead to further information being inserted into the document, which is why there are often back-and-forth discussions with our client.

When our client is happy with the revisions, we then move on to the next stage of the editing process: copyediting and proofreading. Depending on our client deadlines, copyediting and proofreading can occur simultaneously. We do ensure, however, that a new individual reviews the work prior to it being sent back to our client. At times, we have two individuals review the document, depending on the complexity of the subject.

In any type of editing, we at Scriptorium enjoy the intricacies of the process and working alongside our clients to help them achieve their documentation needs and goals.

Looking to update your documentation and don’t know where to start? Contact Scriptorium and let us help you achieve your documentation goals with our team of professional writing and editing experts.

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