Unit 5
Editing and Proofreading

Learning Outcomes

Prerequisites

Context

Mihan is an aspiring novelist. One day when his brother Ryan visited him, a pile of papers was thrown here and there. Ryan took a few of them and found them all the same, sometimes rephrased or rewritten. “Why are you writing the same thing again and again? Don’t you feel bored?”, asked Ryan. Mihan replied, “No, the more times I rewrite, the more confident I feel.”

Do you revise or edit a piece of writing that you write, say a letter, report, speech or essay? In the previous chapters, we were often reminded of writing the first draft. Why is it so? Do you think the first draft is as efficient as your final draft? Which one will have more clarity, precision, accuracy and effectiveness? No doubt, it will be the final draft. Therefore, editing plays a significant role in improving the quality of writing. Let us begin our discussion with the advantages of editing.

Benefits of Editing:

Usually, when we start writing, we let loose our imagination and write the way ideas come into our minds. But before giving it to a second person to read, we know that we must prune it. So we spend a lot of time editing the first version to make it effective.

Editing improves the quality of the final version

Haven’t you noticed that on the sets of a film shooting, they go filming several takes until the shot is perfect? Similarly, in writing, the more you edit the work, the more flawless it becomes. But commonly we all have that tendency to submit our work, once we finish it. Most often, what we write is from our original thinking. This initial write-up is called a draft. When we revise and rewrite the draft, the result will also be better. Let’s not forget that practice makes a man perfect.

Editing is helpful for a writer who uses English as a Second Language (ESL)

In the professional world, language plays a crucial role in meeting communication needs. An ESL author may not have competency in writing English, just like a native writer. So to ensure fluency, consistency, and clarity in a work, thorough editing must be carried out.

Editing helps you keep focused on your theme

When you make the first draft, words may come spontaneously. But on second thought, you will understand that many sentences or words were unnecessary and kept you away from the central idea of your topic. Through editing, you can rearrange your ideas in the right order and help you keep focused.

Process of Editing:

1. Read carefully and thoroughly the full draft with objectivity
2. Examine the accuracy of the write-up by checking the structure of sentences, grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes and appropriateness of expressions.
3. Omit unnecessary words, expressions, sentences or even paragraphs.
4. Add relevant materials, if needed, to substantiate a point that you mentioned.
5. Rearrange paragraphs to ensure consistency and appropriateness.
6. Edit the opening and closing para-graphs with great care, as they leave an impression on the reader’s mind.
7. Ensure that all points have been given proper weightage and attention.
8. Introduce a judicious mix of sentence structure, to serve the reading preferences of readers. But remember that such mixing of multifarious writing styles must be in harmony with the text and the idea it conveys.
9. Use linking and connecting devices like however, moreover, further, be-sides, despite, regardless, in spite of, notwithstanding, as far as, in view of, together with, therefore, hence, thus, yet, etc. Such connecting words ensure a smooth transition from one idea to another in coherence. It also helps to understand the author’s view.
10. Consistency in layout and documentation. Check the following while revising a text:

1. Proper citation of references mentioned in the text.
2. Ensure that the titles of reference books, journals and newspapers are italicised, quoted words are within the quotation marks, and the bibliography is alphabetically organised.
3. Check the order of numbering lists.
4. Check whether the table of contents matches the text of the document.
5. Ensure consistency of space in between the paragraphs, headings and subheadings, and in between the lines of the text.

11. The last step in editing a text is proof-reading. Let’s discuss it in detail.

Proofreading a Text:

In the process of proofreading, you give a final check for surface-level errors like spelling mistakes, grammatically incorrect expressions, missing punctuations, etc. It focuses on more sentence-level errors. Some important points to keep in mind while proofreading a document are:

Take time and read the text slowly. Focus on every word so that no error should escape our eyes. If needed, read aloud the text to spot even the slightest semantic errors, especially, words with tricky letter combinations (ei/ie, ou/uo, etc.).

Try to spot one type of error at a time. For example, read the entire text and spot spelling mistakes at one time. Then read the text again to find out structural errors, like, whether the sentence has a subject, a complete verb, etc. This will make our task easier and faultless.

Most word-processing programmes have spellchecker software. But spellcheckers have only a limited vocabulary and they may even mark the correct words as incorrect. This is common with words that are spelt differently in British and American English. For example, honour/honor; labour/labor; grey/gray; etc. A spellchecker may also fail to detect the spelling of similar-sounding words that do not fit the context. For example, too or to, their or there, etc.

Rely on a standard grammar book or dictionary in case of confusion or doubt.

You can also seek the help of a fellow colleague or one of your friends who has good proficiency in English. This is advised because when you have already spent hours working on a document, you may get tired and weary, failing to detect errors.

Take enough breaks in between as proofreading is a tedious task, taking a good amount of time, and you may get drained of all your energy. So taking breaks whenever necessary will increase your efficiency.

Exercise for Editing:

Indias aspiration to became a world leader must resonate more with its youth more than anyone else. Unless the country’s youth take it to nation-building why only India, no country can hope for the development befits its ambitions. There is no better day than to begin that journey than January 12, observed National Youth Day. The youth (18-29 years) constitute 22 per cent of India’s population, which is more than 261 million people — larger than the population of Pakistan. But this advantage, often termed as demographic dividend, will remain only a numerical strength unless India proactively and consciously focuses on their overall development.

Source: Amrut Bang, “A Roadmap for the Young”, The Indian Express, 11 January 2021.

Edited version:

India’s aspiration to become a world leader must resonate more with its youth than anyone else. Unless the country’s youth take to nation-building, why only India, no country can hope for the development that befits its ambitions. There is no better day to begin that journey than January 12, observed as National Youth Day.

The youth (18-29 years) constitute 22 per cent of India’s population, which is more than 261 million people — larger than the population of Pakistan. But this advantage,often termed as the demographic dividend, will remain only a numerical strength unless India proactively and consciously focuses on their overall development

Recap

Objective Questions

Answers

Assignments

Suggested Reading