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Proofreading and Editing





Many people find the act of proofreading and editing to be a waste of time, yet just the opposite is true. Editing and proofreading your work is an absolute must for anyone that wants to send professional-looking work out the door. It may not always be easy and it may take a little extra time, but the errors that are caught can save mounds of headaches and/or embarrassment down the road. In this lesson, you will learn about the process of both editing and proofreading. You will learn how to do it, what to look for, and ways to make the process easier.

Finishing Your Work

After you have created a business letter or document, you should start out by reading it over once. This is to see if it makes sense and if you have included the information you intended to include. Once you have finished that, you should set the letter or document aside for a while. You should not immediately begin to edit the work.

Once you write something, it is very difficult to immediately switch gears and start editing and proofreading. You are much better off taking a break from that particular piece, even if only long enough to take a bathroom break or get a cup of coffee. This will help freshen your mind and clear your thoughts. If the letter does not need to be sent out right away, you may want to consider setting it aside for a few hours or until the next day. You would be surprised at how differently things look when you come back with a fresh pair of eyes and begin to reread what you wrote.



There is not a writer alive that can get away without editing and proofreading his or her work. Even the best writers in the world have to comb over their work looking for things that are not accurate, not clear, typos, etc. There are many people that find the process of editing and proofreading to be daunting. This is where you change your mind about that. Editing and proofreading are part of the entire writing process.

The writing process includes these steps:

  1. Prewriting: This is done before you actually start writing. It is the point at which you start gathering information, details, notes, etc., that you will need to write the draft. It is wise to create an outline to follow along with as you write. You can jot down a brief outline that states topics to be discussed in each paragraph, pertinent information to include, etc. Doing an outline before beginning to write is like having a road map so you know where you are going as you write.

  2. Drafting: This is when you begin writing the draft. You will connect your ideas and write the letter or document you have set out to do. During this stage, it is best to keep writing and not worry about editing or stopping to mull over every paragraph. Just let the words flow and keep going until you finish.

  3. Edit: This is when you go back over the draft with a keen eye for detail. You will be looking for proper mechanics, spelling, grammar, etc.

  4. Proofread: This step should be the last step you do once all the others have been done. In this step, you will read over the document for any spelling, punctuation, or other such minor errors that you have overlooked.


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