Editing and Proofreading What’s the difference?

Editing… changes the content of the letter, memo or report…  to communicate the meaning efficiently to a chosen audience.  to clarify the intent of the writer.  to enhance the style of the document.

Editing…  for meaning --requires that you understand the writer’s original intent. --requires that you preserve the writer’s original content, as much as possible.

Editing…  for clarity --requires that you use language as efficiently as possible. --requires that you avoid wordiness.

Editing…  for style --requires that you check the tone of the document. --requires that you check the language of the document.

Proofreading… changes the surface-level features of a document to remove errors in…  Grammar.  Punctuation.  Mechanics.  Usage.

Grammar includes…  Subjects and verbs.  Pronouns.  Prepositions.  Sentence structure.

Punctuation includes…  Commas.  End marks (period, question mark and exclamation point).  Semicolon (;) & Colon (:).  Hyphen (-)& Dash (--).  [Brackets] and (Parentheses).  Apostrophe.

Mechanics includes…  Capitalization.  Spelling.  Document format. (letter, memo, report, etc.)

Usage includes…  Word choice (a/an, etc.)  Gender inclusive language (his/her)  Jargon (terms specific to a profession)  Slang (spoken vs. written expressions)

Proofreading tips  Read your document aloud, slowly.  Read your document backwards, sentence by sentence.  Exchange your document with a colleague.  NOTE: Spell check will not catch everything and grammar checks are often wrong.