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Fundamentals of Editing

$50.00

Fundamentals of Editing

Gain knowledge about the process of editing, and understand the range of skills that give text a professional polish. This fun and challenging self-directed course prepares you to think like an editor.

This course has been newly updated in 2023. It can be taken independently or as part of the ACES Certificate in Editing.

Start Anytime

Overview

  • Take this course independently or as part of the ACES Certificate in Editing.
  • Learn techniques to coach and improve writing instead of just “fixing” it.
  • React to common editing situations and understand how an editor can improve any writer’s work.
  • Train your brain to question information, verify it and ensure accuracy as often as possible.
  • Get the latest fact-checking tips, tools and techniques used by professional fact-checkers.
  • Understand foundational skills that no editor should be without.
  • Develop a process for editing to fully prepare a piece of text for publication.

$50.00

SKU: NUSDT33-13 Learning Path: Tags: , ,

Learning Outcomes

This fun and challenging course will ground you in the essential qualities required of any good editor. Through a series of readings, examples and trouble-shooting situations, you’ll learn how to:

  • Explain the steps in the editing process and identify a process that works best for you
  • Identify factual errors in a piece of writing and understand steps for verification
  • Go beyond mechanics to identify sound story structure and address organizational and focus problems
  • Find the holes in a story and fix them
  • Manage relationships with writers and give helpful feedback about changes that are needed

$50.00

Overview

  • Take this course independently or as part of the ACES Certificate in Editing.
  • Learn techniques to coach and improve writing instead of just “fixing” it.
  • React to common editing situations and understand how an editor can improve any writer’s work.
  • Train your brain to question information, verify it and ensure accuracy as often as possible.
  • Get the latest fact-checking tips, tools and techniques used by professional fact-checkers.
  • Understand foundational skills that no editor should be without.
  • Develop a process for editing to fully prepare a piece of text for publication.

Training five or more people?
Check out our custom training.

This course introduces the many ways an editor can improve any writer’s work and teaches foundational skills that no editor can be without. 

Editing is so much more than enforcing consistency and corralling commas. Editing encompasses a huge range of tasks that give text a professional polish and ensure its accuracy.

Learn to avoid the most common grammatical, punctuation and usage errors; recognize sound structure; identify any holes in a story; and verify that all the facts check out. Refine your ability to explain why a change is needed. Most important of all — master a process for editing to ensure that you don’t skip any necessary steps in preparing a piece of text for publication.

Abandon all preconceptions of editors as nitpicking grammar grumps and learn the many fun and challenging tasks that editors perform. Whether you are editing your own writing or working with a newsroom full of reporters, applying the skills you’ll learn in Fundamentals of Editing will make your task easier and your results more professional.

This course has been newly updated in 2023. It can be taken independently or as part of the ACES Certificate in Editing.

Questions?

If you need assistance, email us at info@poynter.org. 

Once you enroll in this online course, you can start any time and take the lessons on your own schedule.

Who should enroll

This course is designed for students and professionals who find themselves in the role of editor, either for the first time or as seasoned professionals. It’s meant to be a fun and challenging look at how editors can train their brains to work well with writers, improve accuracy and bring clarity to any piece of writing.

Cost

$50.00

Instructors

Edited and Updated for 2023 by

  • Gerri Berendzen
    Lecturer at William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications
    Gerri Berendzen is a lecturer at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas. Prior to teaching, Berendzen...
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Instructors

  • Sue Burzynski Bullard
    Sue Burzynski Bullard teaches editing, reporting and multimedia at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty in August 2008 after a year...
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  • Andy Bechtel
    Assistant professor, University of North Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication
    Andy Bechtel is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where he teaches editing and newswriting. He...
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  • Lisa McLendon
    Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Kansas
    Lisa McLendon runs the Bremner Editing Center at the University of Kansas journalism school, where she also teaches editing and grammar. She has previously worked...
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