#what is editing

[god-awful-storyteller]

you like cocaine? then you would also like this train wreck of a video cocaine 3000

[verbatikmedia]

What Is Editing? (And Why Most Writers Get It Wrong)

One of the questions I'm asked most often is: "What is editing, actually?"

Writers hear it everywhere: "You need to get your book edited."

But what does that really mean?

Is it about fixing typos? Rewriting sentences? Rearranging chapters? Cutting entire subplots?

The short answer: yes, sometimes all of the above.

As a professional editor and writing coach, I can say this with confidence: editing is both art and science. It's not just about correcting grammar—it's about refining the soul of your work.

Here's what most writers don't understand:

Editing Isn't One Thing. It's Four Different Stages.

And each one serves a completely different purpose.

1. Developmental Editing (Big Picture Editing)

This is where we look at the core structure of your book.

Is the plot working? Are the characters believable? Is the pacing effective? Is your argument coherent (for non-fiction)?

This is the most intensive type of editing—it reshapes the foundation of your book. This is my specialization, and honestly, it's where most manuscripts need the most help.

If your beta readers are confused, if your middle drags, if your ending feels rushed—you need developmental editing.

2. Line Editing (Stylistic Editing)

Here, we focus on how the story is told.

Sentence flow. Word choice. Tone and voice. Emotional resonance. Dialogue polish.

This makes your writing sound better, smoother, and more powerful. It's the difference between good writing and great writing.

If your story structure is solid but the prose feels clunky, you need line editing.

3. Copyediting (Technical Accuracy)

Now we zoom into the details:

Grammar. Punctuation. Spelling. Sentence structure. Consistency (names, dates, tenses).

This is often what people imagine when they hear "editing," but it's only part of the full process.

If your manuscript has typos, inconsistent capitalization, or grammatical errors, you need copyediting.

4. Proofreading (The Final Polish)

The last line of defence before publication.

Tiny typos. Missing words. Formatting issues. Layout consistency.

Proofreading happens after copyediting—right before your book goes to print or upload.

If your manuscript is formatted and ready but needs one last check, you need proofreading.

Why Does Editing Matter So Much?

Even the most brilliant idea can get lost in poor execution.

Editing:

Makes your message clear

Engages your readers fully

Builds your credibility

Prevents embarrassing mistakes

Enhances emotional impact

Think of editing as the bridge between a good idea and a great book.

What Editing Is NOT

Let's clear up some common misconceptions:

Misconception: Editors rewrite your entire book Reality: Editors improve your work, not replace your voice

Misconception: AI tools (like Grammarly) are enough Reality: They can help, but they're no substitute for human judgment and professional experience

Misconception: Editing = correcting typos only Reality: Editing is about structure, pacing, character depth, flow, tension—and yes, typos too

Why Professional Editing Is Worth It

A professional editor:

Brings objectivity (you're too close to your own work)

Sees weaknesses you may overlook or not even know about

Knows the publishing market standards

Helps you avoid rejection (if submitting traditionally)

Elevates your book's quality for readers and reviewers

Editing is not an expense. It's an investment in your reputation as an author.

Self-Publishing vs Traditional Publishing

Self-Publishing:

You hire your own editor

You control the process

Cost is upfront (your responsibility)

You can choose your editor

Traditional Publishing:

Publisher assigns an editor

Publisher controls edits

Publisher covers editing costs

No choice in assigned editor

Either way, you need editing. The question is who pays for it and who chooses the editor.

In Short: Editing Is Collaboration

Editing is not about "fixing" your writing—it's about developing your story and making it the best possible version of your book, while preserving your unique voice.

So if you're writing a book—or planning to—remember: editing isn't something to fear.

An editor is your partner in making your work the absolute best it can be.

If you'd like to understand more about what editing truly involves, which type of editing your manuscript needs, and how to choose the right editor, I wrote a complete guide:

Read the full article: https://verbatikmedia.com/2025/06/23/what-is-editing/

And if you'd like expert, hands-on guidance with your own manuscript—whether you need developmental feedback, line editing, or just honest professional advice on where your manuscript stands—I'd love to help.

Visit: verbatikmedia.com

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[magnusbae]

Morpheus is resting his hand on the inn's table. Hob's hand is there too, had dropped from his beer mug and stayed there for a long time, too busy, too fascinated with the conversation to pay mind to drinking any more.

He glances at their hands a few times, pretty damn close, almost... But no. Hob dare not touch, he is curious though, he is so damn curious.

When a pinky brushes against his own, he jolts, yelps really. Looking forward, he's met with that self satisfied quiet smirk of his stran— Morpheus, the cheeky bastard, he's literally leering at him, in his own way.

Collecting his wits and no small amount of bravery, Hob brushes his pinky too, letting it stay there, touching as he clears his throat, continuing his story as if nothing had happened.

If he had learned something over the centuries, is that his stranger did not appriciate being called out. So he doesn't. He'd be damned if he makes him bolt again. Even if it was his stranger that started it. Whatever it was. Or could be.

Hob can barely hide his smile when he feels Morpheus' pinky brush against his again, as if to remind him that it's there.

Like he needed reminding.

[myreia]

The level of mental exhaustion work has given me is at the stage where I had a 2 hour nap at 11:30am, woke up, told my partner "goodnight" as I disappeared into the office to get back to work.

[yumeno-hotaru]

Sentient AU (Ft. Murr)

What if a character that you love so much isn’t just an image on-screen?

"Oh? You're lucky to get my rare card? Ahaha! You're funny! I said it before, [Name]. Gambling is just a matter of numbers and logic."

On your Home Screen

Murr is very mischievous in your home screen. He likes seeing your confused and frustrated expressions whenever he alters a button's function. 

There are times where he's especially playful and would rapidly press all the buttons, leading you through several pages and screens at a fast pace, creating the illusion of the game glitching.

He knows that you like it when you hear him "meow" so he does it a lot whenever you tap on his head. It's easy for him to alter the probability of saying certain lines. 

Sometimes, he breaks free of the game's coding altogether to say something else. This causes the game to crash more often than not, so he doesn't use it much. He'll only do it on certain occasions, such as when you get extremely lucky in gacha or when you're feeling particularly upset. Expect a special message from him when it's your birthday. And I don't mean the lines that's coded into the game. A message from Murr himself, not anyone else.

"Yay! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, [Name]! Happy birthday to you! Did you have a party? Did you get lots of gifts? Did something special happen today? Ahaha! To think this game would keep you interested for so long. Well, let's have some more fun until it's time for farewells! After all, staying in one place for too long is boring!"

In the Mansion

It's further proven that Murr is a favorite of yours from how you visit his room everyday just to to hear his lines after a small tap on his sprite.

In his eyes, you resemble a child in a candy store with how enthusiastic your exploration of the screen is. From the way he's instructed to follow the movement of your fingers to playing with the zoom in and zoom out sliders to watch his reactions.

Murr isn't kind when you cook however. Some would alter their dialogues just so you wouldn't feel disappointed when you fail the cooking mini game, but he has refined taste. There was no way he was eating charcoal or food he didn't like. Trial and error is an essential part of learning as well as the process of elimination. 

In the Gacha

Murr especially likes to lead you towards the gacha page when he plays with the button functions, tempting you to roll your mana stones away. The hesitation you have as temptation dances in your eyes, your finger hovering over the ten-pull button as your mind goes into a tug-of-war of whether you should take your chances or save...he finds all of this amusing and adorable.

He cheers along with you when you get the card you really wanted. And if it's a card of him you're gushing over, you might just see one of his smug smiles when you return to your home screen. 

Other wizards may alter the gacha rates to make you happy, but not Murr. Where is the fun in winning if you receive help? It's the sweetest and most thrilling experience when you get something you really want after taking risks, right?

Excitement, the rapid beating of your heart, happiness and a sense of accomplishment after saving and holding yourself back for so long...isn't it the best feeling in the world?

In the Story

Murr feels like he's an actor playing the same role over and over again in a very old stage. Scripted lines had long since been ingrained into his mind and words flow freely from his lips without a thought. 

Your reactions are what always keeps him entertained. That smile when he appears on-screen, your face that holds expressions of excitement and fondness...and also that rapid mashing of buttons to take screenshots of him. He wonders if your gallery is full yet.

He does wish that your interactions are more free. It's awfully constricting to be stuck with two to three choices, isn't it? Beyond the screen, he wonders what kind of person you are. How do you interact with people, how do you view your world? Do they sparkle just like how you view him within the screen. Murr laughs at how you are alike with his beloved moon. Both of you are unreachable. A calamity that destroyed him and a person that existed beyond the border of reality.

One day, he knows you'll depart. You'll lose interest and uninstall the game, perhaps even forget everything in the passage of time. He and the world he lives in is nothing more than an illusion, created for enjoyment and greed.

When the time comes where he can't see you anymore, he'll kiss his fingers and reach out, high above the sky, reaching even beyond the Great Calamity. 

"Farewell. It was a pleasure to meet you."

[oneletteredwondered]

You know that AU where the sides are actually real and ‘play’ their own characters but exaggerated? Yeah that but “Can Lying be Good”.

--

“Are you sure this is a bad idea?” Deceit looks up from the script he’s been reading over Patton’s shoulders to look at the others. There’s a few smiles given his way and Roman’s boisterous laughter.

“Of course Sir-Lies-a-Lot! It’s the best time to introduce a new character to the scene!” Roman laments dramatically, tossing an arm over Deceit’s shoulder which Deceit promptly shrugs off. He catches sight of Thomas smiling fondly at them all, clearly used to these antics.

“As ironic as it is for me to say this,” Virgil starts to say, putting his phone down for just a moment. He catches Deceit’s eyes to make sure the other is listening.

“Don’t worry about it,” He says. Deceit twists up his nose slightly. When the others told him they wanted to introduce him to the video series, he laughed. A laugh that quickly died out as he realized they were serious. He’s not sure if he’s honored or annoyed that Virgil suggested him to be the first of the “darker” aspects introduced.

“The fans are going to-” Virgil cuts off his statement, a look of sudden clarity comes over him. Deceit raises an eyebrow to his silence.

“Oh god the fans are going to love you it’s going to be annoying how much they love you ugh,” And with that, Virgil flicks up his hood and resumes playing on his phone. Deceit merely pinches the bridge of his nose. He’s not sure what the fans will really do. He’s a far sight different than the others and though he’s not the nicest of sides, this script does paint him more.. less nice.

When Roman originally talked him through the script and maybe even potential plot lines, he couldn’t deny, or try to in any case, that playing the more villain role seemed fun. He may not always be the bad guy, but there’s a certain thrill with watching the others squirm. Still there’s only so much fans can take.

“Virgil has a point. Even when he played a more antagonistic role there were a select number of fans dedicated to his character,” Logan informs him. It doesn’t make him feel better. He doesn’t want to be hated necessarily, even if he might enjoy playing the antagonist. He lets out a sigh and glances down at his feet, well, he would if he could see his feet.

Patton looks up at him. He’s wrapped himself around Deceit’s legs happily, practically sitting on his feet and hiding them from sight. If Deceit were to try and walk he’d surely fall over. Patton lets out a soft giggle and nuzzles his leg comfortingly. That also doesn’t make Deceit feel better, but he does give a small smile in return. 

“Don’t worry,” Patton whispers conspiratorially as he holds up an old cardigan. Deceit dutifully wraps it over his shoulders, a wave of his hand changing the rest of his outfit to match the puffball padre in almost exact likeness.

“I’ll help you not be me from right here.” To prove his point, Patton hugs Deceit’s legs almost making him fall over more than he was already prone to. Patton apologizes and laughs, and to make it worse, Deceit copies his laugh almost perfectly, which prompts Patton to keep giggling, so Deceit keeps copying him.

“Are you finished?” Thomas asks but he’s laughing too. 

“Sorry Thoma-llama, guess I got caught in a giggle fit there,” Deceit says in a scary mockery of Patton’s voice, complete with an exaggerated shrug. Virgil has to smack a hand to his mouth to stop his snort but Patton lets himself keep giggling for a little while longer.

Eventually they calm down enough and begin to run through the script together. Thomas records his lines first, though Not Patton interjects to give Thomas the proper scare. Then Roman goes next, being even more dramatic than he usually is to play up his character even more.

When it’s finally Patton’s turn, Roman is there with the script as well, talking on and on about feeling the emotions and really getting in character.

“Well heck Kiddo I think I’m already in character don’t ya think?” Not Patton interrupts after a small tirade. Roman blinks at him a little dumbly at first, looking up and down between Actual Patton hugging Not Patton’s legs and trying to figure out exactly who said it. Deceit can’t help the curl of a smirk that crawls on his face at the confusion he’s caused.

“Anyway!” Roman says loudly. The show must go on.

“We wrote this with Patton in mind, so if you have an ideas on how to make it more.. not Patton..?” Roman leaves his statement like question open and hanging in the air. Not Patton huffs and takes the script, looking over the first few lines and stage directions. He glares down at it, then looks at Roman with a deadpan look on his face as he takes a bold red pen from out of no where and begins to scribble on the script, all without taking his eyes off Roman who looks mildly offended.

“First of all, we do not ‘pop in’ instead of rise up.” Roman opens his mouth to contradict but he’s unsure of Dee is saying the truth or twisting it.

“And Patton, darling, how exactly would you feel if Thomas called you any variant of father?” Not Patton looks down at Actual Patton, and Actual Patton breaks into an ear slitting grin at the mention of being referred to as father. So Not Patton makes a note in the script to not be excited by being told ‘papa’s in the house’.

It goes on for a bit, going back and forth and re-writing without changing too much, till eventually Not Patton is desperately trying to convince Thomas that lying isn’t always a bad thing. Truth be told, Dee himself doesn’t always think lying is the best thing, and there’s Patton, rubbing his leg reassuringly from below, to remind him that it’s okay.

Of course Deceit loves his true entrance, the dark chuckle, the dim lights, oh he feels every bit villainous and it’s glorious. He almost breaks character calling Thomas a ‘foolish dummy’ but manages to push through.

Then comes the worst scene of Deceit’s life.

He hadn’t questioned it before, just accepted, and now he regrets that as Patton does ‘rise up’, right underneath him, and causes them both to fall on their butts.

Virgil is the first to break, sputtering into laughter that he tries to muffle in his hoodie sleeves. Patton is a very close second, doubled over on the ground and trying to breathe but he can’t. Deceit is doing his best to not be embarrassed at the blunder.

“That was amazing!” Roman cheers and wipes a tear from his eye. It takes far too long in Deceit’s opinion to get everyone back under control to finish the line but the momentum is ruined. Every time they even get close to the point where Patton is supposed to rise up, someone breaks into giggle. The first time it’s Thomas.

“Sorry sorry, I can’t do it seriously anymore,” He stops his laughter by covering his mouth.

The second time it’s Patton, unable to full stand because he’s just losing it. Deceit can’t help it either, snickering into his cape. They take a small break after that one.

They get so close the next time but Roman snorts at the last second, which makes Virgil laugh again.

The time after that is the worst, because Patton actually manages to hold it together, long enough to rise up, directly under Deceit in such a way, that Deceit ends up sitting very unstable on Patton’s shoulders.

“Beware the combined powers of Skewed Morality!” Patton shouts and this time it’s Logan who ends up stuffing his tie into his mouth to keep from bursting into giggles. Deceit blinks down at Patton with scared wide eyes but Patton only looks up at him with sparks of joy. Getting down is the hard part and Deceit will not admit that Roman really did need to help him down with hurting either of them.

It takes two more tries before they get it right. Deceit can see the strain of Patton trying not to laugh as he tells Deceit that he’s “in his spot”. To be fair, Deceit has to stuff his own cape into his mouth after Patton tells him a cheerful and plain “bye!” when he sinks out from his own debut.

Patton says the rest of his lines with a smile, Dee curled around his legs an exact mirror of their positions from the morning portion of filming. Virgil goes next and then the end credit scene is thought of and Deceit well, he’s not all that apposed, especially not for a little improve.

“Well since I’m here, I might as well present to you a couple musical puns based all around Deceit,” and if those words and the action he does with it doesn’t make Patton or Roman light up with excitement he doesn’t know what will. He rattles a few off the top of his head, just having a little fun.

“Lies and Dolls, Lying King, Fibber on the roof,” Oh he’s not even sure if the camera is still recording, but he’s having too much fun seeing Patton and Virgil try not to laugh, Roman and Thomas smiling proudly, and that disgruntled look on Logan’s face as the word play keeps coming.

“Jekyll and Lied, totally not partial to that one, Willy Wonka and the Alternative Factory,” He’s being too much, too dramatic, but it’s worth it. He rattles off a few more before he’s at his wits end.

“The Un-Truthers,” Based on the other’s looks, that one might need to be explained.

“The Producers,” he clarifies.

“I think that was my strongest one. That was fun, this was a fun video, I’m so glad I did this,” And Deceit has just enough time to walk off camera before cackling his heart out. He’s only saved by someone else laughing with him. He’s huddled a little, some patting his back and someone else hugging him from the side. There’s also Thomas smiling at him fondly still. He had his reservations before, but maybe, if they wanted, he wouldn’t mind joining them for this experience again.

[ranchseries]

sunset in york

[arsonistmoth]

Angst no. 5 huehue my evil side craves sustenance

“Wake up! Please wake up...” The words fell past parted lips, their sound muddying with a barely contained sob. Scarlet tears streamed down ivory cheeks as the troupe master leaned over his beloved, brushing the back of his hand against the musician’s burning brow. The bug’s breath drew in short ragged gasps, tints of gold mingling with red as his face contorted in silent agony. The fever had gripped brumm for days now, draining the once steadfast bug until finally he had collapsed beneath the strain. No amount of medicine could break the deathly sickness that coursed through the musician’s veins...Grimm knew this...an old voice in his heart telling him that nothing could burn away her sickness..Yet still the troupe master tried, begging and pleading with his love to just open his eyes, to give him that soft shy smile once more...to hold on. Grimm held brumm’s hand, pressing it between his own as he placed a small kiss to the chilled knuckles. “Please....Please wake up” It was a hoarse whisper, crawling out into the dark night as the master watched his love begin to still. Brumm’s face turned away as his body grew slack, his breathing vanishing to near nothing. Grimm tightened his grip on the musician’s hand, a choked sob rising in his throat. No...please gods no not like this don’t take him away like this... His thoughts cried out as he gingerly  lifted one hand to cup brumm’s cheek. “My love....” he softly spoke,  as if afraid of what would answer him in that moment of stillness. For an agonizingly long moment...there came no reply. Only the drumming of his own panicked heart in his veins.. Yet as he strained to listen past that ever present ba-thump ba-thump ba-thump grimm could hear the soft and sharp intake of breath, he could feel the jerk of his musician’s chest as brumm tried again to fight, to outlast whatever burned in his blood. gods only knew how strong Grimm’s love could be. The world around them seemed to grow deathly quiet as in that moment...brumm managed to open his eyes, if just barely so. Through teeth grit with pain he tried to speak, to call out for his love. But grimm was already there, shakily smiling as he stroked his thumb across the musician’s cheek. “I-Im here darling....Keep fighting...I’m right by your side...” Grimm’s words echoed into the stillness as he planted the most gentle of kisses to his beloved’s brow. Perhaps there was a chance....a slim chance.....  Gods grimm just wanted brumm to be alright.