That depends on who you ask. It depends on what is being written, why it's written and whether it will be read by more than a few people.
It is definitely a matter of opinion.
In my opinion, Editing isn't important, it's absolutely VITAL to a story or article.
It's even more essential when submitting work that will be marked or judged.
This is original text from my story:
Chapter 1
She stood with her back to the closed doors of the club; it was very late, almost three in the morning. The last punters of the evening had been persuaded to leave through those same doors less than twenty minutes before her. She asked herself, not for the first time; why did she work here of all places? Her feet hurt and she was forever on a knife-edge, waiting for the next incident to go off. Her weekends were never her own and her sleep patterns were shot to pieces and that was after only a month of working at the night-club.
This is the edited piece:
Chapter 1
She leaned back, pressing her shoulders to the closed doors of the club, eyes closed, head down. Almost three in the morning, a ridiculous time to be finishing work. The last punters of the evening left through those same doors less than twenty minutes before her. A thought flitted across her mind for the umpteenth time. What the hell?
She lifted and flexed one foot then the other to ease the ache from sole to calf and she sighed deeply. Opening her eyes, she leaned forward and checked the street. One month of working at the busiest night-club in town resulted in nerves jangling, and deep paranoia, waiting for the next incident. Her weekends no longer hers to call her own and sleep patterns? What pattern?
I know, this isn't perfect but in my opinion, it's better than the previous text, which was clumsy and clunky.
I'm trying to get more 'show' and less 'tell' injected into the story and to do that is hard!
In the first example, the text tells the reader that it's late and she's tired. Internal (infernal) dialogue is often a clumsy way to communicate with the reader.
In the second example, (I hope) the reader can see how weary the subject is.
I've been over this same text time after time - after all, I started writing this more than two decades ago and it's exceptionally familiar to me.
Started in 1999 - published 2010
When I read through my previous work, I'm reminded that I was once new to this and I had such a lot to learn. Then I remember that I'm STILL learning and I'm certainly no expert. I'll probably never be an expert, but the few bits I know, I'm willing to share.
Most images are not mine, I have used 'free to use' images from Google
Added by Edit
Damnit! I meant to put this in Writers Inc