Editing Skills Tune-Up

What are you learning to help you proofread and edit effectively? What editing tips can you give your readers? As you apply what you are learning, what results are you seeing in your writing?

Comments

  1. Ally Bachmann says:

    Hello Professor Young,

    After reading multiple helpful chapters, I gathered a key concept that enhanced my editing and proofreading skills. One of the most important concepts was to give constructive criticism. For example, when you are editing someones paper and you see errors, inform them on the mistake and explain how they can fix it. Also, make sure to tell the reader about the parts of the paper you enjoyed reading. By doing this, it helps the writer fix errors, as well as allowing them to know that they did do something right in the paper.

    Ally Bachmann

  2. Hi Professor Young,

    Your class and textbook have a lot of effective chapters that have been helping me learn how to properly edit and proofread what I write. I learned that one of the best ways to learn better editing skills is to keep practicing because the more I practice the editing, the more mistakes I will be able to detect. It will get easier as time goes on. I do know that not everything is going to be perfect, but I should always try my best at all times. Another way I am learning to edit and proofread better is by the submission comments you leave for us every week. By pointing out the mistakes I make in my writing, it gives me the chance to edit that part next time to make my writing better.

    Some advice I would give my readers is to not get discouraged. Writing can be a very difficult subject to tackle but it truly does get easier the more you do it. I would also say that you shouldn’t be mad at yourself if you make a mistake the first time because there is always time for improvement to be better the next time.

    I have noticed that when I am writing in other classes, it seems to be more professional than it was before. By learning the rules of different things like semi-colons, it has become easier for me to use them effectively. This makes my writing sound and look better than it did before.

    Tatyana Zambrana

  3. I’ve learnt that I make many mistakes even after proofread. Even when I know rules, it’s easy to miss it. There’re lots of key points to pay attention, such as to use same timeline in one sentence, where to use comma, word usage and so forth. When I proof read, I focus how my writings can be simpler and shorter. Also, I try to use colons and semicolons more than necessary to practice how to use them. Sometimes they help to make my writings shorter.

    When you edit, not only those key points matter, but the tone you use matter too. Write with perspective of the readers, use your common sense, and be respectful.

    My writings becoming simpler and have a little less mistakes I believe. And starting to like summarizing. The skill is useful in other subjects too when I study for exams.

  4. Jessica Marinceski says:

    Hi Professor Young,

    I have learned many lessons in your textbook that are very helpful to refer to when I am writing. The main lesson I have learned that helps me proofread and edit effectively is correct word usage. When learning correct word usage I understood the meaning behind “less is more” in writing. I realized that most people don’t like to read complicated words but would rather enjoy simple ones that they could understand. I also obtained a better understanding of empty information and found it useful learning about redundant pairings, outdated expressions, and vague nouns. 

    Advice I would give to my readers is that it takes a lot of practice to understand everything that goes into writing. Mistakes are common and once you realize what they are you can always improve them. The concept I have learned helps make my writing clear and easy to understand with less mistakes. This also makes my writing look and sound more professional.

    Jessica Marinceski

  5. Jordan Szorc says:

    Hi Professor Young,
    When it comes to proof reading it is always good to have someone else read your paper and get ideas from them. Going to the student center is also helpful, every school should have one. Some tips people to should know is…Always always check for spelling errors, check your grammar if you don’t know ask for help, also read Professor Young’s book there is so much helpful tips in there. By following the book, I am learning so much about writing I never knew, it has helped me improve in my writing skills.
    Jordan Szorc

  6. Jessica Vasquez says:

    Hi Professor Young,

    The book offers many good learning skills to help proofread and edit effectively; like how important it is to know when to use correct punctuation marks.

    If the punctuation marks are used correctly, they help bring two or more broken-up, choppy, sentences into one flowing sentence. Punctuation marks also help the reader foresee what’s coming up next in the sentence, in hopes that they don’t have to reread the whole thing over to understand it the first time.

    I think the discussion comments we give each other really help us find the small mistakes we didn’t see while we were writing our initial discussion postings. In result, I think in each discussion postings, we are improving and making less mistakes.

    Jessica Vasquez

  7. Hello Professor Young,

    Your writing course has sharpened my editing skills tremendously. A couple of concepts I found helpful were comma usage and writing concisely. The comma rules I learned many years ago have since been updated, like using a comma before the word “and”. Also, my writing was wordy and used redundant phrases, like “easily accessible”. I am now able to write confidently in both casual and business settings.

    Thanks,
    Jennifer

  8. Candy Nosich says:

    Hello professor Young,

    I have gained confidence in my writing because of this class. “Less is more” is one of the lessons that has stuck with m e the most. Being concise and keeping it simple are a couple of other things that I put into practice on a daily basis. The greatest thing that I have taken away form this class so far is that the only way to improve is to practice the skills we are learning. I find myself going backing over chapters that I feel like I need the most help, specifically Comma Rules in the Writer’s Handbook.

    My advice to my readers is to practice the skills you are learning, remember that less is more, and that writing is a process that is constantly changing and evolving. When you find yourself getting frustrated take a step back and figure out why. Do a little brain mapping or journal writing. Writing in a journal every day is a great way to put into practice the skills that you are learning. Stick with it and don’t give up, because the feeling of accomplishment when you’ve achieved your writing goal will be well worth it in the end.

    Regards,
    Candy Nosich

  9. Jessica Vasquez says:

    Hi Professor Young,

    The book offers many good learning skills to help proofread and edit effectively; like how important it is to know when to use correct punctuation marks.

    If the punctuation marks are used correctly, they help bring two or more broken-up, choppy, sentences into one flowing sentence. Punctuation marks also help the reader foresee what’s coming up next in the sentence, in hopes that they don’t have to reread the whole thing over to understand it the first time.

    I think the discussion comments we give each other help us find the small mistakes we didn’t see while we were writing our initial discussion postings. In result, I think in each discussion postings, we are improving and making less mistakes.

    Jessica Vasquez

Speak Your Mind

*