Editing Your Work

Students who are good at editing can transform ordinary ideas into extraordinary pieces of work. Here's a look at how to develop this skill.

Five simple steps to successful editing

1. Take a break from writing before you edit – The best editing takes place a few hours, if not a few days, after writing. When you have just finished writing, it’s hard to be objective. Taking a break will help you look at your work with fresh eyes.

2. Use a multi-stage approach to editing – This will make your editing more effective, and more manageable. Begin by skimming and scanning for overall meaning, then focus on sections one chunk at a time, and finally, examine individual sentences and words. There’s no point working at the sentence level until you’re happy with your overall structure and argument!

3. Start with big picture questions that focus on whether your writing as a whole is clear, convincing and relevant. Ask: Have I answered the question and done all that was asked? Have I got a strong and clear structure? (See Structuring academic essays ) Have I got a clear introduction, body and conclusion? Are my arguments convincing? Have I contradicted myself anywhere?

4. Next, look at the overall development of each segment (section or paragraph) – Ask: Does this segment help to answer one part of the question? Does it have a strong and clear structure? (See Structuring essay arguments and Writing academic paragraphs ) Does it focus on one main point and provide sufficient evidence to support this point? Have I contradicted myself anywhere? Is this segment clearly linked to the next? (see Transition signals )

5. Finally, examine individual sentences – Ask: Does this sentence represent a complete idea? Does it add something new? Is it easy to read? Does it lead into the next sentence? Does it contain correct spelling, punctuation and grammar? Have I referenced sources correctly?

Podcast

Editing Made Easy - Siri Barrett-Lennard (approx. five and a half minutes)

Links

Editing checklist                                                                              

Questions to ask yourself when editing first and final drafts

Proofreading and editing guide for student writers                                   

Strategies on revising early drafts and later drafts

Editing and proofreading strategies for revision                                        

Ways of tackling larger issues and sentence and word-level issues (part of a comprehensive series of worksheets on revising your work)

Survival Guide: Editing your own work                                                  

Quick tips on how to improve your writing.

Review

Fry, R. (2000) Improve Your Writing, 4th Ed. Franklin Lakes, NJ: Career Press.

This easy-to-read book contains great tips on improving your writing, including two chapters on editing: ‘Revising Your Masterpiece’ (Chapter 9) and ‘Applying the Finishing Touches’ (Chapter 11). Fry suggests editing for overall structure and meaning before worrying too much about fine detail or format. There’s a useful checklist for revision, and some good tips for proofreading, like reading your paper aloud, working through it backwards, and finding someone else to give you feedback.

Grellier, J. and Goerke, V. (2006) Communication Skills Toolkit: Unlocking the Secrets of Tertiary Success, South Melbourne, Victoria: Thompson.

Grellier and Goerke provide practical strategies on studying at university, and suggestions for ‘Refining Your Writing’ (Section 4). Included are useful tips on improving grammar, punctuation and spelling and a discussion of two underlying principles of successful academic writing: KISS (keep it simple, students!) and ‘make it formal, where appropriate.’ Applying these strategies will make your writing more intelligible, powerful, and acceptable to an academic audience. Included is a handy checklist for essay writing (Figure 9.7, page 155).

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