Editing and Proofreading for Everyday People

Methods of communication have changed immensely over the last ten years. A decade ago, we mostly communicated verbally, either by telephone or in person. Now we communicate largely by sending emails, instant messaging one another, participating in online discussion forums, posting comments on blogs, and interacting on social networking websites. Often we never lay eyes upon the person on the other end of the broadband connection. This means that nowadays, we are what we write!

Written communication is often the first and only opportunity you have to make a good impression on someone. Spelling and grammar errors reflect badly upon you. Poor writing has the potential to negatively affect a person’s chances of landing their dream job, earning a promotion, resolving a dispute, or impressing a potential partner.

Do people really care about good punctuation and grammar?

A few years ago, an entertaining guide to perfect punctuation entitled Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation became an unexpected addition to the best-sellers shelf, selling over three million copies worldwide.

Nobody was more shocked by the book’s journey from niche market to international bestseller than the book's author, Lynne Truss. "When I was writing it, I thought it was a book that was of interest to only a very limited number of people," she said.

The success of this book clearly demonstrates the widespread interest people have in improving the quality of their writing.

Why should people care about good punctuation and grammar?

Good punctuation and grammar is etiquette of the printed variety. Punctuation represents thoughtfulness towards your readers, and often minimises ambiguities. Adequately punctuated writing allows the writer's intended message to be easily understood. On the other hand, leaving out punctuation dumps the entire challenge of comprehension on the reader. A well situated hyphen or comma can make a world of difference to a reader.

What can I do to improve the quality of my writing?

Careful proofreading is a vital step in ensuring that the message within your writing is effectively delivered to your readers. Once you have finished writing, look it over for grammar, spelling, punctuation and flow. In addition, make sure that the language and tone of the piece speaks to the level of your audience. If possible, get someone else to read it over also. Step away and do something else for at least a couple of hours. You will be amazed at how your work reads when you look at it again after some time away from it. Read it aloud this time as your ears will detect errors that your eyes sometimes won’t.

Need help?

There are many writing, editing, proofreading and grammar books available to help you develop your writing skills. However, if you don’t have the time to become an expert writer yourself, consider using the services of a professional editor or proofreader; for important documents in particular.

Traditionally, professional editing services catered only to businesses, university students and book authors. However, affordable online editing services that cater for everyday people have recently begun to flourish. Australian based editmytext.com.au is and example of an online proofreading and editing service that will edit and proofread all types of writing (both personal and professional), for everyday people.

Article Source: http://www.therepozitory.com.au

About The Author Cecilia Biemann is a Journalist, Freelance Writer, and Managing Editor of online proofreading and editing service Edit My Text. editmytext.com.au

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