Editing and proofreading your own work can be tricky.  You might be working on promotional material for your firm, or have to proofread financial information before publication.  Students typically apply themselves to editing their own dissertation, rather than using a professional editing service.  However, here are some pointers to help you do the best edit possible:-

Professional edit

A professional editor would always advise that you get someone else to edit and proofread your work.  Switching from being the writer to thinking as a reader is never easy.  We know our own writing so well that we read too quickly to notice every error.  Our brains tend to fill in the gaps or auto correct as we read. If you want to test this, try reading the jumbled text on this unedited text in a forum post.

To tackle this issue when proofreading, slow your reading speed right down to help you spot the mistakes.

Editing helps the reader

Help the reader to understand your meaning. Signposting your work by dividing it with appropriate headings is one way of clarifying your meaning.  If the work is long (say you are editing text for an annual report or an estate agent’s brochure) you might decide to include a table of contents.

Proofreading – your tone

With an even longer piece of work (say you are dissertation editing or a checking through your thesis), you may have been writing this work over a period of months.  The tone you have used in your writing may have changed from section to section.  During editing you can make sure that your voice is consistent throughout.

Make sure that you haven’t put yourself in the text (e.g.  “My research has shown…” could be replaced by “This research has shown…” or perhaps “It was discovered that…”).  Remove any language that makes you sound as though you are being pompous (perhaps you have written “This was an incredibly exciting result” when you were talking about your own research).  Remove text where you sound over familiar with the reader (e.g. “To help you understand this concept better…”, “As you can see, this shows…”).  Text for university needs to be formal.  As you work through your essay, remember that you should not write as though the reader is your friend.

Are you struggling with editing your own work?  Have you found any other solutions to the issues raised here?  Let us know.  Post a comment or query below.