It's easy to miss our own mistakes when we've spent a lot of time working on a document or we're close to a deadline. A thorough edit and proofread will improve the clarity of your messages and make your work easier to read. As a result, you will communicate more effectively.
Editing and proofreading tips
- Leave some time between your final draft and the edit so you see your work more clearly.
- Find a quiet spot where you won't be disturbed.
- Take your time and have frequent breaks.
- Ideally, edit and proofread over a couple of days.
- Read work through at least four times
- the first time for meaning
- the second time to edit
- the third time for headings and graphics
- the fourth time for anything you’ve missed (you’ll be surprised what slips through).
- When reading it for the second time concentrate on:
- words — are any unnecessary?
- grammar
- consistency of style and punctuation
- repetitions
- typos
- ambiguity
- layout.
- Read the headings separately and don't forget to check everything on the page including captions, footnotes and navigational links.
- If you’re editing on screen, proof on a hard copy as well.
- Some people find it helpful to read:
- with a ruler underneath each line
- aloud
- backwards (word by word or sentence by sentence)
- in pairs with one reading aloud and the other following the text.
- Best of all, ask a colleague with an eye for detail to read your work or pay a professional editor.
Further reading
If you enjoyed this article, you may also like to read:
Writing executive summaries
Dealing with abbreviations
Writing endings
First, second and third person
Trouble getting started
Readability formulas
Make numbers manageable
What is irony?
Writing recommendations
Writing quotations
You will find a lot more grammar tips at www.onlinegrammar.com.au, my grammar website
For more information, contact Mary on 61 2 9365 7711 or mary@themfactor.com.au
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