From Global to Local, Revise and Edit
Polish your writing by revising, editing, and proofreading. What are the differences?
Revising & Editing – This is the “re-seeing” phase. On the global level, imagine zooming out to evaluate the content and organization of your document. Do your body paragraphs support your introduction’s thesis? Should some of them be rearranged or deleted completely? Are your paragraphs coherent? Then zoom in – changing ideas on the sentence level, reducing wordiness, and editing for clarity. Are your sentences clear and functional?
Proofreading – This should be the last stage as you prepare your manuscript for submission or publication. Zoom in closely and proofread slowly and systematically, looking for mistakes that you missed previously. Many professional writers will agree that, after being involved with a document for a time, they tend to see what they think they wrote, not what they actually wrote. Give your message dignity and your readers the respect they deserve – polish your documents!
A word about editing software – Don’t be overly dependent on spell-check and grammar-check in word-processing programs, which often miss many faulty constructions. Their suggested corrections may not be effective or even correct. Moreover, they can weaken your ability to identify errors and correct them on your own.
A word about research-based writing – Your final edit phase should also attend to your documentation and citation. Are your in-text citations and Works Cited list formatted according to the style your professor mandates? See our Research Skills page for details on this type of academic writing.