8.2: Editing Fundamentals
- Page ID
- 174909
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When you edit, there are a few key rules to remember:
Edit With Fresh Eyes.
Give yourself time between drafting and editing. By that we mean put the draft on a shelf, in a desk drawer or under a paperweight and let it sit a spell, preferably for several hours for shorter projects and at least a day for longer ones. After this down time you’ll come back fresh and will be more likely to catch errors.
Review the Basics.
Take the time to review earlier sections on writing tone, drafting clear and concise sentences, common grammatical errors, and any other material that represents a problem area for you. Editing is your last chance to apply the guidelines you’ve read about in earlier chapters. If the concepts are fresh in your mind when you start editing, you’ll be better able to spot problems in your draft.
Slow Down and Take Your Time.
You aren’t in a race. If you read at your normal pace, you’re more likely to miss errors. Try different approaches to slow yourself down, including reading aloud and reading one line at a time using a "cover" to hide the rest of the page. If you’re checking for misspelled words, move backwards through a sentence.
Remember Your Readers.
Try to put yourself in the role of your audience as you edit. You may catch some areas that may need revision if you read it from their perspective and knowledge base. Also consider your secondary audience-even if you’ve got your primary audience targeted correctly, are you unnecessarily insulting others that may end up reading this?
Start With the Big Picture
Start large and then work down to the details. When you begin to edit, don’t focus in on the nitty-gritty-look at the big picture first. Misuse of "there" and "their" is really not that important if your paper lacks cohesion, is poorly organized or fails to include a clear purpose statement. Again, anyone can use spellchecker, but a well-edited paper requires much more and begins with The Big Picture.