Improving your Writing Through Editing

All of us at one time or another have said something careless to a friend and then spent the rest of the night regretting our words. In contrast, when we write we can make sure we say exactly what we mean. Good writers don’t express themselves perfectly on the first try, but they work hard at revising and editing their initial efforts. It is during the editing process that a mediocre text can be polished into an outstanding writing. Thus learning to edit will make you a more proficient writer.

Editing, a creative process

William Faulkner, after winning the Nobel Prize for literature, says; “I am not one of the world’s greatest writers, but I would have to be counted among the world’s half a dozen greatest re-writers”. Some of the best and most respected writers in the world like Faulkner are really exceptional rewriters. They edit and make their writing stronger. Editing is as much a part of the creative process as writing itself. When you edit your writing, you’re essentially doing the same thing a sculptor does when he chisels the details into his statue. The initial writing is just carving out the rough shape. When you edit, you make your writing stronger. You cut out the fluff and leave only the message that you want to convey.  

Write first, edit later

In his classic, “How to write”, Stephen Leacock says most people confuse writing with putting words on paper. Writing, he says, is mostly thinking and only a tiny part is actually spent in putting pen to paper.  If writing has got so much to do with thinking, then what about editing? Because editing comes after writing, editing also means re-thinking or re-writing. Regardless of the types of writing, we write for only one reason: to communicate, both consciously and subliminally, with others.  We edit our writing so that our readers will understand our authorial intent. In other words, we write to communicate, and we edit to clarify.

The process of writing is a combination of two quite different activities. One consists of “getting your ideas down on paper”; the other, of editing it, once it is on the paper. Casual writing -a postcard to a friend -may consist only of the first activity. But if you cross out a word on the postcard and replace it with another, that is your ‘editing’. Inexperienced writers sometimes imagine that writing consists only of the first activity--getting things onto paper--but both activities are crucial; and usually, both are in play at once. Whatever sort of writing you do, it’s important to revise and edit your work – especially if you write assignments, or articles or short stories. 

Revising, editing and proofreading

People think that revising, editing and proofreading are names for the same thing. As you write a paper, you move through stages of development. In the initial stages, you invent ideas and arrange them into an overall argument. Once you have a full first draft, you move into the middle stage of writing-revision-and then into the later stages of writing-editing and proofreading. Revising is the reading of your manuscript to organize your thoughts on paper to match the thoughts in your mind. When you revisereviseTo examine a piece of writing for clarity of ideas. Revising often includes adding, cutting, moving, or changing information in order to make the ideas clearer, more accurate, more interesting, or more convincing., you might add, cut, move, or change information in order to make your ideas clearer, more accurate, more interesting, or more convincing. When you editeditTo examine a piece of writing for how the writer expressed his or her ideas. Editing often involves adding or changing words, and fixing any problems in grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure., you fix any problems in grammar, punctuation and sentence structure. Proofreading puts the final shine on your writing. Proofreading is checking the manuscript for accuracy and correctness.

Understanding errors

Students who wish to write well need help in understanding and avoiding mistakes in their writing. There are four main types of errors in written language: spelling, punctuation, grammar and usage.

Spelling mistakes: English spelling is irregular and even many native-speakers have difficulties with it. Spelling mistakes do not usually prevent the reader from understanding what the writer is trying to say, but they can create a negative impression. For this reason it is advisable to try and remove them from important pieces of writing.

Punctuation mistakes: Students need to learn certain aspects of the English punctuation system, such as the way to punctuate direct speech. Punctuation mistakes can often be spotted if the student reads the writing aloud. If a natural pause in the reading does not correspond with, say, a comma or a full-stop in the written text, then it is likely that the punctuation is faulty.

Grammar mistakes: are the next type of error commonly made by second language learners. For example, learners often do not choose the correct English verb tense for expressing an idea or do not use it in its correct form. They may fail to use the articles correctly, or place words in the wrong order in a sentence. Some grammar mistakes are easy for learners to correct themselves, particularly if they read their writing aloud. Other grammar mistakes are not easy to find. In the long term most grammar mistakes will disappear by themselves, particularly if the learner does extensive reading in English.

Self editing skills

Many students fail to look over their writing once they have completed it. This means that they are handing in work that contains spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, unclear or clumsy writing. A piece of writing, riddled with errors will leave a bad impression about the student. Writing well is an art that everybody should master in order to be successful. Students with good writing abilities have an edge over the others. How can you become a better writer? At the earliest opportunity, get into the habit of self-editing your work. Self-editing is an essential aspect of writing. So how do you learn to self-edit? The same way you learn to write: by practice, by reading critically.

Editing Strategies

When your overall argument is solid and unlikely to change, you focus on editing. In editing, you attend to sentences and other problems in grammar. Ask yourself these kinds of questions as you look carefully at sentences: Are sentences readable? Are my sentences grammatically appropriate for my audience and purpose? Do I need to change sentence punctuation? Do I need to combine sentences for clarity, precision or variation? Effective editing creates sentences that move, delight, and persuade readers. Small mistakes of grammar or spelling may not spoil a good piece of writing, but some readers get distracted by them and it is best to try and correct as many as you can.

Check Grammatical Errors

Think about the words you’ve chosen throughout your paper. Do you need to choose more precise, active words? Don’t forget to look for the major kinds of problems that crop up in your writing. Use these questions to help you edit for grammatical problems: Do I see any errors in subject-verb agreement? Do I see any errors in pronoun usage?  Do I switch from present tense to past tense? Get all your verb tenses moving in the same direction. Write in the present tense or the past tense, but choose one and stick to it.

 

Proofreading Strategies

Once your thoughts are down and, your grammar and spelling are polished up, it’s time to proofread. To proof-read ask yourself: Is every word spelt and capitalized according to convention? Are the other mechanics of my paper appropriate for my purpose and context? Did I leave out any words? Have I used the right word? When proofreading, look first for those problems you know you have. If you know you make errors in sentence punctuation, check all sentences for completeness first. For instance, many proofreading errors involve using commas where semicolons are required. Check that all your sentences start with a capital letter. You also need capital letters for all proper nouns.  It’s not easy to check all these things together, so try doing them one at a time.

Proofreading symbols

Proofreaders and authors use standard proofreading symbols to correct page proofs. Knowing how to proofread, and how to use proofreading symbols, is most important for a student to learn the process of editing. You can see those symbols in the first unit of the new English Reader for class X. When you edit your own work, use them. Now go through the following passage and note down how proof reading symbols are used to edit the passage.

Have you gone through the symbols used to edit the above passage? What symbol will you use to put a period? To insert a period (full stop) into a sentence, write a period where one belongs and circle it. How will you insert a comma to edit a passage? To insert a comma, draw an upward caret symbol where the comma belongs and write a comma within it. To capitalize a letter, draw three small lines underneath each letter that needs capitalizing. Also write the letters “cap” on the same line as the correction in the far right margin. There is no need to memorise every one of the dozens of symbols used in proofreading. You’ll become familiar with the most frequently used symbols quickly enough.

Transform your ‘garbage’ into a polished work!

Ernest Hemingway says, “The first draft of anything is garbage.” If Hemingway, one of the most influential prose writers in the English language, thinks that his first draft is garbage, then what will you call your first draft? A piece of writing enters the proofreading and editing phase as ‘garbage’ and it comes out a diamond. Reading your draft again and again will give you all sorts of ideas for improvement. Through revising, editing and proof reading you can transform your ‘garbage’ into a polished work.

Reference:

Bates Dianne: How to Self-edit to Improve Writing Skills, Emerald Publishers, Chennai, 2005

Erwin, R: “Un-rules” for news writers. New York: Harper & Row, 1986

Reinking James and Hart Andrew: Strategies for Successful Writing, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 1988.

P. K. JAYARAJ
RIESI, Bengaluru