A State Department employee and Georgetown University graduate delivered the keynote lecture at the McCourt School of Public Policy Writing Center’s biannual event, speaking on editing in policymaking and other professional capacities. 

Elizabeth Evans (SFS ’03), a foreign service officer in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, headlined the Jan. 19 event. In her role, she manages the American cohort of the Quad partnership, an informal diplomatic network between Australia, Japan, India and the United States. Evans has also served in Seoul, South Korea; Auckland, New Zealand; and Taiwan as both a diplomat and an intern.

Evans centered her discussion around strategies for editing in the most effective manner, ranging from the actual process of editing to how to approach making suggestions in a professional yet confident manner.

To start writing on any topic, Evans said you must first reflect on how the subject matter is related to your own identity.

“You need to have that background. You need to have done that homework. It’s going to help angle your writing,” Evans said at the event.

Evans also said facilitating progress should be at the forefront of the policy writing process. 

“And a reminder that all policy writing is about managing change of some kind,” Evans said. “If everything were perfect and were going to remain perfect indefinitely, you wouldn’t need a policy.”

In describing her personal approach to writing long-form content, Evans said her drafting process is never linear.

“I don’t like to just start at the beginning of a paper and go to the end. I find I get writer’s block, I get stressed out,” Evans said. “So instead, I do this. The audiences, the objectives, the parameters. What exactly we’re fighting for.”

Evans said simplifying one’s writing into something that can be easily shared in conversation is the key to getting people’s attention.

“In the end, you should have a two-sentence ‘mega-talker.’ That’s your elevator speech. Short, succinct, punchy,” Evans said.

Based on that short pitch, Evans said the next steps involve honing in on easily memorable highlights of what you’re writing that can stick with listeners, emphasizing the importance of repeating key talking points to make your message as clear as possible.

When editing, Evans said it is important to balance being both assertive and polite to best accomplish your goals when suggesting changes to a piece.

“Always edit with confidence and diplomacy, meaning if you think your edits are necessary, stand behind them — they probably are, and work on them — but also be diplomatic,” Evans said. “Recognize that when people see red ink, it hurts their feelings — even when it shouldn’t.”

Evans also said it is essential to be mindful of not silencing the perspectives and opinions of authors.

“Going back to my previous point about editing style, clarifying the point is valuable. Erasing the voice is not,” Evans said. 

While editing can sometimes seem cutthroat, the end goal must always be mediation, according to Evans.

“Find out a happy medium along the way so that the product continues to improve without destroying your relationship with your colleagues,” Evans said.

Evans said editing should not be taken personally, and that it is essential to producing quality content.

“There’s nothing offensive about making edits,” Evans said. “Good writing is rewriting.”