A text is like a part of the natural environment; it can be lush and complex, austere and uncompromising, familiar and safe, even boring and monocultured. Each text, like each environment, requires a particular kind of tending to keep it healthy.
Sometimes ideas are overgrown and need to be pruned back to reveal their beauty; other times they need to be carefully nurtured over time, allowing them to flower to their full potential. Some ideas are invasive species in their textual environments and simply do not belong; these need to be weeded out.
Within this metaphor, authors and editors work together as gardeners with different specializations. The author provides the initial conditions, creating the vision for the environment; they select the location, prepare the landscape, decide what to plant and what to leave out, and then set about bringing their vision to life.
The editor is invited along later in the process, depending on what kind of editing is desired.
A developmental editor is an early co-creator of the natural space. They help the author understand elements of their vision in the process of its creation.
A substantive editor is invited by the author to assess the environment once it is established, a first critique and commentary before the general public will be allowed into the space. They ensure that everything that exists in the space belongs there in a meaningful way, and that the flora and fauna are generally behaving.
A copy editor is a specialist in the individual flora, fauna, rocks, and minerals that populate an environment. They make sure everything is comfortable and presented in the best possible light.
A proofreader serves as the last check before the space is made accessible to the public. Any errant weeds are removed, last minute pruning is done, and animals are fed and watered.
Some textual spaces are more like zoos, carefully curated for the comfort of the animals and those who visit them; others are wilder, raw and untamed, where the language itself requires exploration. The relationship of author and editor to their textual spaces is an idea I have always loved, and I hope to expand upon it going forward.