It is always essential to check over any piece of work to make sure you have the best chance of success. But should you edit your essay, or proofread it, or both ? many people use these terms interchangeably, however proofreading and editing don’t quite mean the same thing – and they won’t produce the same results.
Let us begin by understanding the flow of the writing process:
A document is written in stages, beginning from the generation of ideas, laying out a structure, the first draft, and then multiple iterations of editing until the author is satisfied and ready to present the work to their esteemed reader.
After the first draft :
This is the stage when most authors begin the process of editing their own work. Editing is an art. It is the laborious task of addressing the core features of the writing. Editing is all about making sure the meaning and ideas in a piece of work are conveyed in the best possible way, for the audience. The author must do the following :
- Enhance the language by making changes for clarity, readability, and smooth narration
- Include word reduction, if required
- Improve the overall quality of writing
- Revision for clarity, readability, and flow
Working with professional editing services :
When there are two individuals working on a draft, there needs to be a lot of collaboration between them to understand the flow of writing. Editing services work with the best academic editors who can ensure that your document is free from errors, and also alert you on other major issues that might impact your writing.
Proofreading – Final Draft :
If editing is an art, proofreading is often considered a science. It tends to result in minor, aesthetic adjustments to text rather than big changes. By definition, proofreading is a surface level check. It is the final check performed on a document. A proofreader will look for misspellings, incorrect / missed punctuation, inconsistencies (textual and numerical), etc.
Here’s what proofreading looks like :
- Performed on the final draft of the document
- Addresses the surface level issues
- Eliminates spelling errors, grammatical and punctuation errors, formatting errors, etc
- Does not include word count reduction
- Makes already good writing error – free
- Does not require much collaboration with the author
Both editing and proofreading services are essential to improve the quality of the writing. They work on different aspects of your writing to transform your document, whether it is a research manuscript, an essay, or a business proposal, into an eloquent and worthwhile written communication.