For the writer in all of us:

Five modes of editing:

1.Meta editing: What is the story about? Why are we doing it? What s the approach? Who will want to read it?
2. Edit for meaning: Done with the first draft. What does the story mean? What is its heart?
3. Macro editing: Look at the whole story. How well does it work? Look at the structure, the tone, the voice, the key issues. Are there ambiguities? Are there confusing parts?
4. Meat editing: Does each sentence and section move the story along? Does it have a strong pace? Are there detours? What gaps exist?
5. Micro edit: Look at words, grammar, sentence length.

Source: Jacqui Banaszynski, Seattle Times