substantive editing samples

Motherhood (excerpt)

“Motherhood” is an adult fantasy short story about a mother losing her marbles. In this lighthearted tale, a mother of young children struggles to find her sanity amidst the daily shenanigans of her eccentric children. Through a special experience, she eventually decides that, when it comes to her family, she doesn’t actually mind losing her marbles.

This story is not yet published.

Edited in 2022

Editing services completed: 

• Substantive editing

Stewardship: It’s Time to Step It Up

“Stewardship: It’s Time to Step It Up” is an article discussing why it’s important to care for our beautiful earth. The author reminds us of our responsibility as children of God to take care of His planet, and she gives us examples of ways we can do that.

This article was written by a young adult member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the online journal Latter-day Saint Insights.

Edited in 2022

Editing services completed:

• Substantive editing

Stars and the Light of the Gospel

“Stars and the Light of the Gospel” is an article discussing stars and how the world’s artificial light often drowns them out. The author compares stars to the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He states that in order to make it to our eternal destination, we need to be able to put aside the world’s distractions and listen to the Spirit.

This article was written by a 15-year-old member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He wrote it with the goal that it would be published in the magazine For the Strength of Youth.

Edited in 2021

Editing services completed:

• Copyediting
• Substantive editing

Spiritual Watering

“Spiritual Watering” is an article discussing faith and how we can’t just nourish it once and then let it sit—we need to consistently nourish it, or it won’t grow. The author compares faith to planting and growing a flower, basing his words off of his experience planting flowers on the grounds of the Pocatello Idaho Temple. He states that in order to stay spiritually protected and become more like Jesus Christ, we need to listen to and obey the prophets and the Spirit, and we need to do it consistently.

This article was written by a 12-year-old member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He wrote it with the goal that it would be published in the magazine For the Strength of Youth.

Edited in 2021

Editing services completed:

• Copyediting
• Substantive editing

UCHD Style Guide

Publishing style guide

For one of my editing classes, groups of students were assigned to write style guides and then send them to other groups to be edited. The members of my group separately edited a fictional style guide designed for the Utah County Health Department. As I edited, I took into account inclusivity, making sure that when cultural groups were mentioned, the language used was sensitive and unbiased.

Edited in 2019

Editing services completed:

• Substantive editing
• Copyediting