When you think of editing, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Many people view the main task of editing as finding and fixing grammar or spelling mistakes. However, editing is much more. Editing is a process that involves revising the content, organization, grammar, and presentation of a piece of writing. The purpose of editing is to ensure that your ideas are presented to your reader as clearly as possible.

Proofreading focuses on checking for accuracy in smaller details of your work. It is a part of the overall editing process, and is best done as the final stage of editing. In the next section of the workshop, you will discover how to implement an editing process that moves from big picture concerns through to the final step of proofreading.

Image Credit: Rawia Inaim

Attribution

This chapter is an adaptation of What is Editing? by Christina Page and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. You can download this book free at Effective Editing Copyright © 2019.