Editing and Proofreading Tips for Bloggers

Editing and proofreading is an important part of writing. Nobody can deny this, and it applies to all areas of writing. There are some who say that accurate language is most critical to achieve when the work is academic or professional, – whether you are being marked or not – but accurate language is still critical if you are a blogger who wants to be taken seriously. This is why bloggers need to be good at proofreading and understanding the finer points of language.

Editing is not the same as proofing, though it is just as important, or perhaps even more important. Both of these processes are a part of the content revision process, though they should never be mistaken for one another. When you edit a piece of work, you are making sure that the work is accurate, appropriate and easy to read. Proofreading on the other hand is the process of finalizing the work’s structure and style for publication. In the market however, these two terms are often used somewhat interchangeably.

There are many easy tips that can improve the quality of writing for bloggers whose first language is not English, or for those who struggle to create work that they are satisfied with.

Let’s look at some tips for the revision process and the proofing process.

• Accuracy and opinion: Blogs are usually opinionative, but there will still be factual information and other types of objective information. It is crucial to get the facts right. This does not apply to opinions, but this doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be as well informed as possible.

• Distance yourself from the work: An old mantra for blog writers is to complete the writing, leave it alone and then come back to it at a later date. When you come back to it, you will be in a much better position to critically analyze and assess your writing.

• Making the content fun and interesting: Rephrase and restructure your existing work to make it easier for the reader to enjoy.

• Don’t settle for once: It is rare that you will spot all your mistakes the first time round.

• Don’t take spell-check’s word for it: Spell-checkers are pretty good at finding mistakes, but there are many types of mistakes that they are not so good at picking up on.

• Increase the font size: It can be difficult to spot mistakes when the font size is small, especially for misplaced hyphens, commas and apostrophes

• Take short breaks: Your brain can switch off when you’re revising longer pieces of work. Split your proofing into short blocks so you can catch everything.

These tips should help you become sufficient at improving the quality of your work by yourself, though there are many people who want to make absolutely sure of the highest quality work with an editing service. If you think that your work needs many changes made to it, editing is the choice you should make.