No matter what you are writing it is always a good idea to edit, revise and even rewrite if necessary. Without editing and revising your work you may miss errors and will look ignorant and unprofessional to your audience. There are some key differences between editing,revising, and rewriting. When I used to correct errors in my work I was not sure whether I was revising or editing and did not know the best methods to do them. Editing, revising, and rewriting is a necessity so I am going to explain their differences and tips on how to improve the process.
Editing
Editing is used to make sure your document is correct in areas such as:
*grammar
*spelling
*punctuation
*sentence structure
Editing is extremely important because if your document has simple grammatical or spelling errors you will lose credibility with your audience and your work will lose its value.
Tips for Editing
*If you have to edit your own work read it backwards. This will help to recognize errors. A problem with editing your own work is often times you will overlook errors.(Dorbin)
*Read your work out loud.This will help you recognize when sentences don't sound right
*The best method for editing is to have someone else edit your work. When my work is edited by someone else they often times find errors that I overlooked.
Revising
Editing is used to correct mechanics but revising on the other hand is used to improve the content of your writing. Revisions are much more in depth than edits because they improve content, organization, and design.
Tips for Revising
*Make sure that the document achieves its purpose
*Eliminate irrelevant or repeated information
*Be sure to use the correct style for the situation
Rewriting
Rewriting a document requires even more changes than a revision. Rewriting is necessary when a document is going to be used for different audiences and purposes. Although rewriting can be tedious, it is necessary in order to effectively "meet the demands of a different rhetorical situation." ( Dorbin)
Tips for Rewriting
*Include new content that will help achieve the purpose
*Be sure to write to your new audience
References
"Revising." ABC's of the Writing Process. Web. 30 Nov. 2009.http://www.angelfire.com/wi/writingprocess/revising.html
Dorbin, Sidney, Christopher Keller, and Christian Weisser. Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. second. Columbus: Prentice Hall, 2008. 273-289. Print.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What a great post! I edited my blog post tonight right before reading your comment about a few grammatical errors! I should have read your post before submitting my blog! I liked the tip you gave about reading it backwards.. Sometimes no matter how many times I read it I still miss things, but reading backwards really helps! Great post!!
ReplyDeleteI really like how you broke your post down into subheadings. That really helped the organizational factor. I wihs you would have picked a different YouTube video. He didn't teach me anything I didn't already know. Other than that, I really enjoyed your post. You offered great tips and made it very personal. Good job :)
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Logan about the reading your writings backwards. It is a great idea for finding spelling errors since you have to read slower and you don't automatically skip over things in your head. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteThat is a great tip for revising your writing. I will definetly start reading my papers and important documents backwards to make sure I caught any grammatical errors. Great post!
ReplyDelete