Editing
One of my favorite parts of the story-writing process is editing. Not only does it give me the chance to help another writer improve their craft, but it also allows me to get feedback on my writing. Getting the chance to communicate with fellow staffers some of the moments I appreciate the most when it comes to writing my stories.
Sentence Fluency
One of the main things I look for while editing (besides grammar, pelling mistakes and AP Style errors) is how sentences flow. Sentence Fluency is an underrated aspect to writing. If sentences flow well, it's more likely a reader will continue reading, and before they know it, they finish the story. The slightest difference in wording could throw everything off. I leanred this philosophy from my former 9th grade English teacher: "If it sounds weird read aloud, rewrite it." I've written by that saying for three years, and I love helping others find it as well.
Communication is Key
One other aspect of editing I take very seriously is communicating with the writer whose story I'm editing. You can only say so much through edits between the margins. A true conversation about how to improve the story is the best way to deliver news about edits. Whenever I have to initiate one of these conversations, I always try to insert my opinions on how the edit I made could be remedied. For example, if someone wrote a long run-on sentence, I would not only say to divide it into two sentences, but I would also suggest WHERE and HOW the sentence should be divided. There's no better feeling than helping a writer, and having a conversation about edits is one of the best ways to do that.
Letting Go
Every story belongs to a journalist or team of journalists. Many times where I've been an outsider looking in, I'd wanted to make so many edits to a story, not that it was grammatically incorrect or the AP Style wasn;'t used, but because of things like word choice, sentence fluency or organization. One thing I've learned from editing is that every writer is their own person. You may want to exact your will on the story with your edits, but in the end, it's up to the writer to listen to them or not.