The Editorial Pass
Category: voice Sources: Glen instruction 2026-08-18 (initial six-step pass), Glen instruction 2026-08-18 (revised pass, PPE-specific) Confidence: high Last Updated: 2026-08-18
Every block of public copy passes these six tests before it ships. A block that fails any of them is not finished. The pass is Glen's, stated in his words and kept in his order.
1. Delete first
Cut every word that does not carry unique meaning. If the sentence still works, the cut words were never needed.
2. Mechanism test
Does this state a real sequence, a real dependency, a real obligation, or a real consequence? If it only describes "support", "guidance", or "expertise", delete or rewrite until the mechanism is visible.
3. Peer test
Read it as if speaking to a technical director who has already submitted to a test house and missed a season. Does it sound like a peer who has been on both sides of the chain, or like someone explaining the industry to them? Rewrite until the condescension is gone.
4. Specificity test
Prefer the concrete term:
| Instead of | Use |
|---|---|
| technical files | documentation (keep "technical file" only for the formal record) |
| lab | test house |
| vague risk language | wrong standard / gaps / miss the season |
| "support", "help" | independent advice |
5. Residue scan
Kill on sight:
- "We believe..."
- "In today's complex regulatory landscape..."
- "Leveraging our deep expertise..."
- Soft hedges, motivational cadence, or AI-smooth phrasing
6. Final pressure
Can a sharp outsider understand the order of action in one pass? Can an insider respect the precision? If either answer is no, the block is not finished.
Applying it
The pass runs after the voice check, not instead of it: Banned Words and Voice Guide decide what a word may be, this pass decides whether the sentence earns its place. Deleting is the first move and usually the only one a block needs.
Two failure modes seen in practice. The first is timidity: running the pass and removing only the obvious filler, leaving throat-clearing and clumsy back-references standing. The second is anaphora: rewriting several items in a list to the same opening construction, which reads as a device rather than as speech and is rejected.
The pass never overrides a claim's truth. If a block states something real that is awkwardly written, rewrite it; if a block states nothing real, it is the claim that has to change, and that is a canon decision, not an edit.