Expert Tips for Editing Quickly

In an ideal world, writers would follow the steps of the writing process in an orderly, unhurried manner, beginning with prewriting to develop ideas, continuing on to writing and revising (including multiple drafts and revisions), then editing and proofreading, and finally publishing/submission. In the real world, editing and proofreading come near the end of a writing project, so they can wind up feeling rushed, as authors may push off this important finishing work too close to the deadline, leaving less than an ideal amount of time left to home and perfect the final draft.

Considering this, in today’s post, I’ll offer some tips and thoughts to help complete the editing phase quickly and efficiently.

During editing, writers are often looking to improve flow, eliminate repetitions of ideas and words, reduce word count, ensure the writing stays on topic, and use more effective word choices. This is all in addition to specific, individual needs to improve the quality of the work. Figuring out what to look for during editing prior to beginning the process helps writers/editors approach the process in an organized way for faster and better results.

After determining a few areas to work on, good editors should read through the draft several times, each time keeping one or two areas of desired improvement in mind and should remember to give it one more final read prior to completion. Now, let’s get to some specific strategies.

Reducing Word Count

I certainly recall as a young writer hearing the length requirement for an assignment and thinking, “I’ll never get there!” But in reality, the greater problem for a lot of writers, myself included, is not too few, but too many words, and this definitely tracks with my work as a proofreader; customers often request help cutting words. Not only do writers often need to cut words to stick to an assignment description, cutting words is a generally advised editing strategy as it helps cut wordiness and leads to more precise wording without distracting and diluting filler words and phrases.

When reading to decrease word count, keep an eye out for words that don’t add meaning, like “just” (e.g., “It was just the best” means the same as “It was the best”) and remove repeated words and ideas (“It was the best of the best” means the same as as “It was the best”). Sometimes writers find they include an entire sentence multiple times with essentially the same meaning but only some slight word or order differences. Alternately, writers may find oddball, off-topic sentences that don’t add to the intended argument of a paper or move a more creative work forward.

Improving Flow: Use Your Ears

Reducing word count is actually a great first step in the direction of improved flow. Once a writer knows their writing contains all the essentials and minimal fluff, it’s time for a second round of flow improvement. A great way to do this is to read the draft out loud, even just to yourself. I’ve seen this again and again with writers I’m working with. They “don’t see” bumpy or sloppy prose, missing or unnecessary words, and general awkwardness with their eyes, but when they read it out loud they stumble and find it with their ears. A few quick changes to any bumpy portions and another read through generally greatly improves flow.

“Find” Is Your Friend

When I am writing about a particular topic, I know I am likely to use certain topic-specific words repeatedly, which can lead to redundancies or make for less interesting word choices and a more “basic” writing style. Using the “find” feature in Word or Google Docs quickly locates words and phrases to either eliminate repetitions or mix up the lexicon for elevated word choices. While editing this, for example, I searched for the word “repeat” and found I’d originally used it three times in the paragraph about reducing word count. Looking at that paragraph again, I was able to use some synonyms and rephrasing to improve the prose significantly.

Try a Piecemeal Approach

When looking for smaller errors like spelling, homonym/homophone issues, and punctuation, especially those not flagged by Docs and Word with a colored squiggle underneath, it can be easy to miss things. Reading paragraphs out of order can be helpful to trick your eyes into being more observant. Starting with  the last paragraph, then second to last, and so on, until the first paragraph, is one way to go. Looking at a work “chopped up” in this way, looking at smaller chunks at a time, errors tend to pop out more than when an editor reads start to finish and processes the piece as a whole.

No matter your plans for finalizing your document (proofreading by ProofreadingPal recommended, of course!), the tips above will help you approach editing your paper with a more sophisticated plan.

Sarah P.