subject: Effective Editing How It Spells The Difference. [print this page] If you think proofreading equals editing, then you are wrong Editing is a lot more than just scrutinizing your manuscript for misspelled words or missing punctuation marks.
As a whole
Edit only after you have written the whole piece. If you stop to edit after every paragraph or sentence, you will disrupt the flow of your thoughts.
It is better to take a break before starting to edit a long manuscript so you will have a fresh perspective.
Revise only hard copy especially if your manuscript is quite long. Revising from a monitor is confusing.
Verify the spelling of names, figures, dates, and addresses. These are the most murdered items in manuscripts.
Be sure of what you put between those quotation marks Otherwise, rephrase the line and omit the quotation marks.
Did you follow the writer guidelines e.g. number of words required, font and font size specified, spacing, margins.
Edit your content
Be sure that you did not stray from your topic. Are your paragraphs coherent.
Did you fulfill your purpose for writing that piece Is your entertainment feature article entertaining enough Did your personality sketch bring out your subjects unique and distinct qualities
If necessary, did you provide enough supporting data graphs, charts, figures for your piece
If applicable, did your article answer the 5 Ws and H, Who, what, why, were, when and how.
Edit for tightness
Remove redundant and useless words.
What about diction Did you use the right word to express what you mean For example, He stared at her is more intense than He looked at her.Devour is not the same as eat.
Did you vary the length of your sentences Combining long with short sentences makes your article easier and more natural to read.
Did you check that the body of your article is longer than the introduction lead Some writers get carried way. They focus on an effective lead to hook the readers but neglect the body of the article
What about tone and style
Does your work reflect your writing style or does it sound like a copied work
Did you use the active voice Are you consistent with the point of view you used
Do your title and the words you used match the tone of your piece
