Good editing is an essential component to good writing.
Many young writers feel they are destined to write the next Great American Novel - only to find their writing full of mistakes and misstatements.
Without editing, a piece of writing that may have been truly great is barely worth the time it takes to read.
A poorly edited piece that does get published is a black mark on the record of that writer.
Even under deadline, it is important to either make the time to edit or to have someone else do the editing.
Without it, many writers would not long remain employed.
The secret of many successful writers' fortunes is a good editor.
Many writers even recognize this in the dedication of the book by thanking the editor.
Good editors not only correct mistakes but put books back on the right track.
Any writer who has had a great editor who knows the job well understands just how useful such a person can be.
Writing and editing are not the same thing.
A good editor may not be a good writer and vice-versa.
It has been said by many prominent scientists that creative thinking and analytical thinking come from opposite hemispheres of the brain.
Writers, when writing, focus on the art, not on the structure such as the rules of grammar, proper spelling and other such matters.
It is just easier to get all the words down on paper or monitor when not worrying about those things.
Non-fiction writers need to remember the facts and consider how to lay out those facts in a clear way that gets across the story they are trying to tell while holding the interest of the reader.
Some of these pieces attempt to prove a point of view or persuade the readers to see some point of view or take some sort of action.
That is the important part to most writers - not to remember where to put the comma.
When a writer is in that moment, where the words seem to just flow on their own, there is no desire to be hampered by the little details.
The content trumps the minutiae.
Once that moment passes and the work is done, the editing can begin.
It is much like switching to another mode to clean up what was written earlier.
Fiction writers may have an even worse time with editing.
In this case, people, and sometimes even places, that are not real have to be given reality by the writer.
The concern here is to make the reader experience something through the words of the writer, while making sure the plot moves at a good speed, and all the characters remain consistent.
Once that is done, then the time comes to go back and force everything into the proper place through editing.
Writing and editing are not the same at all, but they are two sides of the same coin, nonetheless.
One literally cannot exist without the other.