Punctuation, spelling, grammar, style, calculations, accuracy, tone –  editors review all of these. If you are learning to edit or want to refresh your skills, there are courses for that! Many free and low cost courses are available for this. Nearly all on my list below are provided by Magazine Training International (MTI) or Poynter Institute. To access their courses, you will need to set up free accounts on their websites.

Self Editing

• Editing Your Own Writing (MTI e-book)
• Skillful Self Editing (MTI webinar)

General Editing – Cheap Option

If you are trying to go as cheap as possible, here are the courses I’d recommend:

• Language, Math and News Literacy Certificate (Poynter Institute Course)
• Cleaning Your Copy: Grammar, Style, and More (Poynter Institute Course)
• Clarity is Key: Making Writing Clean and Concise ($20 USD) (Poynter Institute Course)
• Editing Everywhere All at Once: Writing for SEO, Social, Newsletters and More ($20 USD) (Poynter Institute Course)

General Editing – More Expensive Option

If you can afford to spend a little, I’d recommend doing the Poynter/ACES Introductory Certificate in Editing ($150 USD) instead of the above courses. It bundles almost all of those courses along with additional ones, and then provides you an opportunity to get a certificate at the end. It includes these courses (you do not have to sign up for them individually): 

• The Fundamentals of Editing 
• Clarity is Key: Making Writing Clean and Concise 
• Getting it Right: Accuracy and Fact Checking in a Digital Age 
• Editing Everywhere All at Once: Writing for SEO, Social, Newsletters and More
• Language Primer
• ACES Introductory Certificate of Editing

I’d advise adding the free Math for Journalists Certificate course to this block as well.

Posting Corrections Online

If you find yourself correcting something after it’s published, the following article will give you good tips on how to do that ethically and with transparency:

• How to Correct Web Site and Social Media Errors

* Note: If a link to an MTI webinar does not work, use their search bar to search for the webinar by name. You may need to add it to your cart to purchase (for $0) before being able to access it.