So, you finished writing the first essay in your life and breathed a sigh of relief: the titanic work is over! Make no mistake, though: it’s always important to review any work to make sure you have the best chance of success. Surely you have heard that there are such concepts as proofreading and editing. What should be the next stage of work on your text?
People often confuse editing with proofreading and use the words interchangeably. However, these two processes are different stages of text polishing and will bring different results. If you are new to essay writing you definitely need to ask the help of professionals, and before looking for the best essay editing service it is better to know for sure what you need: editing or proofreading.
What Result To Expect From Proofreading?
Proofreading aims to check the essay, identifying all textual and numerical inconsistencies, and errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar. In addition, the proofreader fixes mistakes in formatting and referencing.
Usually, proofreading service is ordered when:
- You only need a surface-level grammar check of the final version of a document to wipe out typos, spelling, and punctuation errors.
- You have already edited your document and need to make final corrections before submission.
When it comes to your own work, may not register its mistakes, so proofreading is highly recommended. It is also an opportunity for you to start recognizing errors you make consistently so that you can avoid those mistakes in the future.
When Editing is Essential?
Editing corrects issues at the core of writing and improves its overall quality. A thorough editor eliminates problems in sentence construction and language clarity and can cause extensive text changes, improving the readability, clarity, and tone of the essay.
Editing is quite necessary for authors who:
- Want to revise if their essay is clear, readable, and flows throughout the whole document.
- Aim to be sure that the essay or article reaches a publishable standard.
- Eager to polish the text, enhance the language, and express their thoughts clearly and compellingly.
If you are not a confident writer or collaborate with other authors, who have a different style of writing then editing is highly advantageous.
Proofreading and Editing Tips for Beginners
Before you start proofreading and editing your essay step away from your work and take a break to get a fresh perspective. To find awkward and confusing sentence structures, spot misspellings and typos read your work out loud or ask your friend to do it.
As proofreading and editing are two different processes, it’s easier to handle them separately. Structural issues within a document are more significant than the surface errors, so start from editing and:
- Check the logical connection between paragraphs.
- Avoid the word and sentence structure repetition.
- Exclude confusing or unnatural language.
After that proceed to proofread:
- Print out your essay to make mistakes easier to spot.
- Pay attention to the one type of error at a time.
- Read your text backward to switch your focus from paragraphs’ connection to typos and mistakes.