Editing: The gold standard of professional writing

I teach Basic Skills Writing to adults at the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas.The most difficult part of  teaching non-professional writers is convincing them that the editing stage is where their writing evolves from ordinary to extraordinary.Yet for all you wanna-be  professional writers, editing is the key to selling that  article, book, or short story.Your  goal should  be to submit a product as close to perfect as possible. It is not the job of an editor  to correct grammatical, punctuation, or capitalization errors.Their main concern is the information you  impart to readers. (Content rules!)If you have completed  a longer piece of work--novel, memoir, or non-fiction book--do not hesitate to pay someone to edit your manuscript.I know. It is scary. Suppose  he or she questions your writing choices.The fact is professional writers submit their  work for  the advice, critiques,or  revisions of an editor.Look upon editors  as your First Readers.Better to find out what doesn't work from them, rather  than from the public or critics.Most serious  writers have  concerns  about what others will think of their writing.Consequently, we often avoid sharing our work  in writing groups, with friends and family, or with  professional editors.You must develop a thick skin.A successful career as a writer often requires having editors--copy editors, senior editors, managing editors, executive editors, and editors-in-chief--comment on your work.So, buckle up and share your work with the world. It just might be the next big literary success..