Course Overview

Writing is a process of prewriting, drafting, and editing to communicate clearly with and effectively impact a reader. This course focuses on the editing part of that process, which means, though we will examine the writing process in its entirety, we will pay careful attention to the two tasks that make up editing—revision and proofreading.

Because revision requires a firm grasp of “good” writing, the course will dedicate half of its time and energy to defining and understanding the demands of “good” writing across a variety of genres. Because proofreading requires strict adherence to correctness and precision, this course will dedicate the second half of its time and energy to understanding and implementing correctness and precision across a variety of genres.

In short, to become a good editor you will both write and edit in this class, and you will be evaluated on your performance in both of theses inextricable tasks. Your grade will reflect your participation in class, understanding of the course’s core concepts, and performance on four projects incorporating writing and editing.

Writers and editors work in a wide variety of genres, each of which adheres to a slightly different definition of “good” writing. Though we will define certain core principles that apply across all genres, to truly develop practical editorial skills we will focus specifically on several genres, which will be determined by your needs.

For that reason, the course schedule, and the outline of projects will remain incomplete until the second week of class, when I have had the time to determine your needs and tailor the class accordingly.