Technical Editor Interview Question:

Tell us does your company have a set editing procedure, such as a set of defined levels of edit?

Submitted by: Muhammad

Yes. If yes, please describe your company's procedure:

I work as a freelancer, so my procedure is my own. Even when I was a wage slave, I didn't use any levels of edit approach because I believe (and teach, when I teach editing) that as an editor, it's my responsibility to do whatever is required to produce a manuscript the author can be proud of and that the audience will understand. When time is constrained, I use triage as the basis for my levels of edit: I focus on the crucial problems (the ones that will kill understanding) before working on the merely important ones (the ones that will only impede understanding), and lastly I remove the blemishes (things worth fixing but that won't impede or kill understanding) if time permits. Most "levels of edit" systems I'm familiar with don't understand the importance of triage.
Submitted by: Muhammad