Macro and Micro

“Editing” is an umbrella type of word — a vague term that encompasses a lot of different tasks. But not all editors perform the same work, and not all pieces require the same skill set.

All editors care about language — the phrasing, the precision, the cadence, the imagery it evokes. And if you love and care about language, your first instinct is to correct or tweak less-than-perfect usage. So there’s a real temptation, when a piece arrives in an editor’s inbox, to immediately dig into the language itself.

But it’s a lot smarter to resist that temptation and instead read through the piece from start to finish. Why?

Because often a piece requires macro work: reordering chunks of text, smoothing out bumpy transitions, building a more effective lead or conclusion, resolving confusing chronology, adding missing context, realizing where a great story or quote can do double the work of narrative. And once an editor gets deep into the specifics of phrasing, distinguishing between single or double quotation marks, or fact-checking dates, chances are they’ll lose their awareness of the bigger picture.