The Basics—a new series

Today we begin a new series of questions and answers about writing, editing, and revision.

In the coming days, we'll describe what we do, how we can help you, and the difference  between editing and revision. After that, the fun stuff: how to begin a writing project, how to revise, how to reimagine anything, and much more. Please join us!
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Who are we?

We are trained readers. That’s how we think of ourselves. Our training and experience is in editing and writing—and we do use that background in our work—but there is a good reason we think of ourselves as readers first.

We are readers first because we try not to let rules or expectations get in our way the first time we read a piece of writing. We endeavour to simply read, for as long as we can. Like every reader, we yearn to be carried away by a story, by the beauty of a sentence, by insight and discovery. We’ve experienced these pleasures many times, so we read attentively now, in anticipation.

We’ve also experienced the many varieties of barrier that can come between a reader and their story—doubt, confusion, a jarring rhythm, a gap in logic, a subtle shift in tone, perspective, or focus. We know these barriers well, so when we encounter one, we make a mark with a pencil and move on. Reading comes first.

We are editors too, of course, so when we need to analyze and explain a misstep or omission, we rely on our editorial experience to convey what we’ve observed.
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And we think it helps that we’re writers ourselves. We know what it is to revise and rewrite, recast and reimagine. We’d love to help you get on with that.

Next time: What do we do?