Proofreading and Editing for Polished, Professional Writing

Your writing leaves an impression. Readers will come away from your work feeling informed, entertained, inspired, even moved.

Or will they?

Proofreading and editing might not be the heart and soul of the writing process but they are essential steps in any writing project.

When I was in high school and even during my early college days, I wrote papers and turned them in without giving them so much as a second glance. No revisions or rewriting and no proofreading and editing. My papers often came back marked up, and the markings almost always pointed out grammar, spelling, and punctuation rules that I already knew – but because I hadn’t bothered proofreading and editing my work, I’d accidentally broken the rules and turned in an unpolished piece of writing that had a few typos.

The Value of Proofreading and Editing

In time, I learned the value of reviewing and revising, but it was a lesson that did not arrive in the form of essays hatched with red markups. I learned the value of proofreading and editing as a reader.

The first time I caught a typo in a novel, I felt smug. I thought myself quite smart to have found a mistake that the author had missed. Later, when I understood that each novel is reviewed by a copyeditor, I felt even more smug when I’d find errors in text of books or articles. Not only had the writer missed the mistake, the editors had too!

I also noticed that each error was a speed bump, which interrupted the flow of my reading. I’d be enjoying the story and all of a sudden, a blatant misspelling or poorly structured sentence would throw me off course, and I’d be yanked out of the tale.

That was enough for me to develop a careful practice of proofreading and editing everything I write. When people read my work, I don’t want them to pause to contemplate the rules of grammar. I want the reading to flow smoothly and totally uninterrupted.

The Lack of Proofreading and Editing

I’ve learned that in the world of blogging, proofreading and editing are sorely lacking – and it’s easy to tell when a blogger doesn’t understand the rules of proper English or is simply being careless. In some cases, the work contains information and ideas that can’t be gotten elsewhere, so the value of the content overrides the necessity of good grammar. In other cases, the material is so riveting and entertaining, minor mistakes are easily forgiven.

Some readers will ignore grammatical hiccups or confusing verbiage. Others won’t notice them at all. But there will always be those few who are so completely turned off by an error-riddled piece of work that they’ll simply stop reading whatever you publish. Is that a harsh reaction on the reader’s part? Maybe. But if your work is so peppered with mistakes that it’s actually difficult to read, then why should anyone waste their time?

As writers, and especially as bloggers who produce tons of written material on any given day, week, or month, it’s nearly impossible to hire a professional editor to check every single thing we publish, and no matter how carefully you proofread and edit, chances are that a few typos will slip through over time. But if you aren’t polishing your work at all, and your writing is weighted down with mistakes, you’re sending readers a message that you don’t care very much about your work or the impression that it leaves.

Your Proofreading and Editing Habits

I’ll leave off with a few questions that you can ask yourself about your own proofreading and editing habits. Feel free to share your responses in the comments section or simply share your feelings about proofreading and editing, grammar and typos (or lack thereof).

• Do you revise every piece of writing that you submit, share, or publish?
• How many times do you proofread a piece?
• How careful is your proofreading and editing process? Do you do a quick scan or a careful review?

Remember, proofreading and editing lead to better writing, so be sure to incorporate these critical steps your own writing process.

If you have any proofreading and editing tips to share, feel free to post them in the comments.

What’s the Difference Between Proofreading and Editing?

I get this question all the time.

Writers looking for proofreading and editing services want to understand the difference so they can also understand why there is a price gap. Editing involves more work and a broader range of skills, and it usually takes longer to edit a piece of written material than it does to proofread.

Both proofreading and editing are critical steps in the writing and publication processes. Writers should always proofread and edit their own work before submitting it to agents or editors and before self-publishing. However, when it comes to proofreading and editing, nothing beats a second set of eyes.

Proofreading

Proofreading is the task of correcting a piece of writing. Traditionally, proofreading involved checking for typos (typographical mistakes), but modern proofreading includes checking for grammar, spelling, and punctuation as well as typos.

In order to proofread, one must be objective, clear-minded, and focused. It takes practice and training to proofread effectively because when we read, our minds will add missing words and letters and it will correct typos, putting the proofreader at risk for missing some typos altogether. This is especially true for writers who proofread their own work. The mistakes are there, but our minds may not register them.

Proofreaders almost always use a style guide. Grammatical standards provide the rules, but many issues arise in writing that are not addressed by these rules (for example, the serial comma). A style guide ensures consistency and offers best practices (I use The Chicago Manual of Style). If you retain proofreading services, be sure to find out which style guide your proofreader uses and make sure it’s the same (or compatible) with your target publication’s style guidelines.

Editing

Editing is a pretty general term and editors in general possess a wide variety of responsibilities. For example, an editor of an anthology collects written works from a group of writers and puts them together in a book. Newspaper editors may be involved in laying out pages. For the purpose of our discussion on the differences between proofreading and editing, we’ll focus on editing as the act of revising, also called technical editing or copy editing.

First, it’s important to understand that editing includes proofreading, or the process of checking written work for correctness. The rules of grammar and style-guide protocol are included in editing.

But editing goes further. In editing, the work involves more than checking for mechanical errors. An editor checks for syntax and readability and may also provide fact-checking. Words and sentences are often added, cut, or rearranged. In some cases, editing involves a full revision – an overhaul of the original piece.

Whereas proofreading is technical, editing involves more creativity and a closer relationship with the original material. The editor often works closely with the writer and therefore must possess strong interpersonal skills. Some editors will include notes with edited copy; these editorial notes are designed to explain revisions that were made and help the writer produce a more polished piece next time.

Professional Proofreading and Editing

It’s not always feasible to hire someone to proofread or edit your work, particularly if you’re a struggling writer trying to get a piece published or looking for an agent. Some agents fulfill the role of editor and will work with a writer on revisions. Publishing houses and both print and online publications (magazines, journals, etc.) may have in-house editors who will review your work before it goes to press. But don’t count on it. Some literary magazines clearly state (in their submission guidelines) that work will be published as-is.

Any time you hire or work with a proofreader or editor, make sure that the artistic integrity of your written material is maintained. This is especially crucial for creative writers. A responsible proofreader or editor understands both the writer’s intent and the intended readership and then edits accordingly, even if it means bending (or breaking) the rules of grammar. Your work should also be marked up in a manner that allows you to accept or reject each correction or edit (Microsoft Word’s “track changes” feature is ideal for this, and all writers should learn how to use this feature).

Knowing the difference between proofreading and editing is important, but the lines are blurry. Often, you’ll sit down to proofread and end up editing. That’s fine. Both proofreading and editing are steps in the revision process, and they both ultimately lead to better writing, whether you do it yourself or hire someone to do your proofreading and editing for you.