What Are Editing and Proofreading?
Editing and proofreading is a combination of all corrections and changes made in the process of editing and proofreading the author’s text (books, articles, etc.). The editor pays attention to both the form and the content, performing the necessary semantic changes in the text. Proofreading is the correction of spelling, punctuation, and typing mistakes.
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How can specialists help students?
It is necessary to mention that the same person often performs the tasks of a writer, editor, and proofreader. For example, a student who wrote an essay should then check it for mistakes. Of course, this is rather complicated and painstaking work. Therefore, many students contact reliable companies, providing online essay writing services with the help of professional academic writers, like CustomWritings.
This, of course, is the guarantee that they will get excellent work without grammar and spelling errors, verified by the editor and proofreader.
After filling out an application on the website, the student receives an answer from the manager, clarifies the cost of work, the time of writing, the necessary requirements, etc. After that, he makes an advance payment, and specialists start writing the work. As soon as the paper is written and verified, the manager informs the client. Thus, the student gets a unique work checked by the editor and proofreader.
Common editing and proofreading mistakes
The common editing and proofreading mistakes that should be avoided are discussed below.
The manifestation of restlessness and inattention
To carry out proofreading and editing of texts takes a lot of time and special attention to the smallest details. But many of us simply do not have enough time to work on original materials in a free and relaxed atmosphere.
The high rhythm of modern life, when you need to do several things at the same time, leaves no room for work on grammar and spelling. Therefore, the main rule of proofreading and editing is that nothing should distract from checking the texts.
Non-observance of work discipline
The peculiarity of the work of our brain makes it difficult to find typos. During the normal reading, the brain instantly scans the contents of the text and, first of all, analyzes its meaning, trying to understand what is written.
To understand the order of letters, you need to abstract from the meaning of the text and concentrate on the rules of spelling.
Work in a hurry
Editing and proofreading do not tolerate fuss and haste. Indeed, the technical verification of textual content is a thorough process, when you need to peer into each letter, comma and point. Instead of a simple cursory review of entire sentences and paragraphs, you will have to check slowly all the words to see the content through the eyes of future readers.
Check on the day of writing
If the text is written today, postpone the final review until tomorrow. A fresh look will help you find typos and errors that are carefully hidden between the author’s lines.
If you need to hand over the material today, take a break from work for one to two hours and check a little later. This ensures the high efficiency of editing and proofreading even in a short time.
Correction of mistakes not in all places at once
If you find a typo or find a mistake — immediately correct the spelling. Use the search on the page and immediately change the words with errors to the correct spelling.
Incorrect spelling of names
Respect proper names: names of cities, geographical objects, historical figures, and just ordinary people with whom you live in the same historical era. If you have any doubts about the correct spelling, go to the official Internet resource (the source of the material), where you will find the correct version in the original interpretation.
Non-compliance with uniformity
The inconsistency in the choice of signs and symbols, the different spelling of numeric and physical quantities, as well as other common mistakes, are clearly visible to an outsider who will notice not only mistakes but also similar shortcomings.
It is important to develop a unified method of writing and follow the rules of editing and proofreading. Pay attention to any details: headings, links, image captions, tables, and explanations.
Deviation from the own style
Create your own style of writing and proofreading texts and observe it strictly. It will eliminate many corrections and save a lot of time on checking copyright materials.
The lack of desire to contact specialists
When there is not enough time or attention to detail is not your trait, then you need a professional editor and proofreader. A full-time specialist will help solve the problem with editing and proofreading, as well as tell you what you should pay special attention to. Subsequently, this will become a habit, and you will be able to see mistakes that were previously invisible.
The reluctance to take friendly help
If you find errors in other people’s materials, you should inform the authors in a friendly manner. Each of us is wary of being caught in illiteracy and, therefore, scrupulously treats personal gaps in the field of spelling and grammar.
But no one is safe from accidental mistakes and typos. If you help a person in a friendly tone — he will be very grateful! Learn these mistakes and try to avoid them. This will allow you to quickly make the correct edits to the text.
