Did you know I don’t just write stuff?
I know, shocker!
But I also offer editing and proofreading services. This is where you put some writing you’ve done in front of me, and I make it better. But a lot of people wonder about what that actually means, and what I do.
I like to think about both editing and proofreading in terms of tools. Editing needs shears, while proofreading needs a magnifying glass and a red pen. Like any job, you need the right tool for the right job, which means you need to know what each tool is for, and how best to use it. Let’s consider this your tutorial, so you know which tool you need when, and you know how to use them.
What’s Editing?
Editing is what happens after you’ve written your first draft. Once you’ve taken a bit of time away from the text (which I always recommend), you’ll come back to it and read it again. As you go, you’ll revise bits of it, maybe reorganise sections, present information differently, add bits in or take things out. good editing is all about making sure that your content presents your ideas as clearly as possible. It’s all about the content of the document, improving the overall accuracy, flow, structure and readability. In other words, it’s making sure it all makes sense!
So What’s Proofreading?
Proofreading is the art of reading through a piece of content and marking any errors in it. It’s the true ‘red pen’ moment where you go through carefully, line by line, making sure there are no errors in the text. This usually looks for spelling, punctuation and grammar, as well as repetitions, inconsistencies, formatting mistakes or other small errors. A proofreader will be looking for things like:
- Spelling errors
- Punctuation errors
- Incocnsitentyly spelled or hyphenated names
- Bad word breaks that make the text difficult to read
- Formatting inconsistencies or errors
- Incorrect text headings and page headers/footers
- Wrong page numbers and cross-references
- Missing text
- Repetition
- Incorrect captions and annotations
You’re not dramatically changing the text when you’re proofreading. It’s more like tidying up. Making sure there’s nothing in there that shouldn’t be, and that everything is where it should be. It’s the process of catching any mistakes before your work gets shared with the big wide world. Proofreading comes after the editing process, and it’s your last chance to change things.
Questions to Ask Yourself When Editing
Proofreading is a pretty simple, if time-consuming activity, but editing is a skill that you have to practice. If you’re not used to editing, or thinking about your work in that way, here are a few things you can ask yourself.
Why are you writing it: If you’ve never written down the answer to this question, or even thought about it, your response will give you a lot more direction than just whether you need to proofread and edit. After all, the reason for writing the content is something you should know! It should inform everything you do – the topics you write about, your style, the format, where you publish it. The purpose really does inform the whole strategy!
Who is your audience: Do you actually know who you’re writing for? After all, your ideal reader will guide the type of thing you publish as much as your motivation for writing it in the first place. If the people you’re targeting will be turned off by consistent grammatical, spelling and punctuation mistakes, then you need to spend time carefully proofreading and editing your work.
Does it resonate with your readers: This is the big editing question. Does the content you’re sharing actually resonate with your readers? What special insights are you sharing? Will they feel compelled to share your content? Does it hold their attention long enough to finish it? If you’re struggling to keep people on your page long enough you need to reevaluate the content, and that means editing.You might not think you need to edit or proofread your work, but that simply isn’t the case. Everyone should at the very least proofread their own work so that they don’t make any silly mistakes that damage their reputation down the line. After all, studies have shown that around 97% of people said that spelling and grammar mistakes influence their decision to buy – and not in a good way! So if you want to get the attention of the 97%, your work needs to be flawless. Click here to what with me, and I’ll be happy to help.