The revision process is an important part of becoming a better writer. Many writers believe that editing proofreading is the same thing but actually these are two different processes. There are many tips though that apply to both processes.
What exactly is the difference between the two? The process of rereading your content, structure and organization is editing. Proofreading is the process of checking your spelling, grammar and punctuation. Editing deals more with the style of your writing while proofreading is concerned with the mechanics.
The best thing you can do to improve both your editing proofreading is to get some distance. You should never edit or proof something that you have just completed writing. At this stage, you are still too close to the writing. The ideas are still fresh in your head and you often see what you thought you wrote and not what is actually on the page. Take a rest from it before your start the revising process.
Track your changes as you work. This is especially important with editing proofreading. Sometimes you think that you want to make a change to the structure of your writing but then you realize it was better the other way. Tracking the changes as you make them allows you to see if the new version is really better and even more importantly, it lets you go back if it isn't better. If you use Microsoft Word, there is a feature to highlight and track changes and you can turn it on.
Do your work in whatever format you think it is easier for you. If it works better for you to sit in a comfortable chair and scribble your edits onto a printout of your work, do that. If on the other hand you prefer to read on the screen and type your changes, that is fine too. Find a method of working that it best suits you.
Read your work very slowly. You really need to digest every word. I find that reading my piece aloud helps me when I'm editing proofreading. Reading aloud can also make your editing proofreading easier. Sometimes in your hurry to get your ideas onto paper it is easy to type the wrong word. Spell checkers cannot find this kind of errors but if you read the piece aloud, you will notice the mistakes.
The process of revising your work can be tedious and this makes it tempting to skip over editing proofreading. Hopefully these tips will help you make the process a little easier and will help you improve your writing. http://www.proofreadingcourses.org/ is a website which provides more info about this topic.
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