Editing is Critical!

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We know the drill. Write, Edit, Publish

But too often, we are so ready to publish, we overlook the all-important edit.

Maybe you are near the end of your work time. Or the phone rings. Perhaps you are just tired and want to get the post published.

For whatever reason, you skim through the edit. Or maybe you skip it entirely.

This came across a group I am on yesterday. I read it and needed to take a second look before bursting out in laughter. My family was now convinced I had lost my mind. But when they read the post, they broke into laughter, too.

This is a screenshot of the post:



You are probably laughing now, too. One letter makes a big difference. In fact, it changes the word and the entire meaning.

Editing is Essential!

I am using this one as an example because I think it shows the importance of the edit in a very big way.

Yes, the post elicits laughter. But when I thought about it further, I realized something a little sad about it.

The writer obviously was upset and trying to make a statement that was quite important to him or her. But with that one letter mix-up, the message was diluted. In fact, the comments that followed addressed the typo, rather than the issue.

The same thing can happen to us with our posts.

Rereading our work, carefully screening for typos, wrong wording, or even an entire message that is not clear can save us from such mixups.

You spend hours researching the keyword and topic, finding the details you need, and writing your post. Then you choose and add images to create more interest and understanding.

But all that may be lost without careful editing.

When coaching writers, I always encourage them to reread and edit before publishing. It's better to publish a well-written and carefully edited article a day later than to publish sooner without that all-important edit.

If you want your reader to have a good laugh, it's better to provide them an intentional one, rather than a typo!

Enjoy your weekend!

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Recent Comments

72

Great article. A second pair of eyes has been useful in my working life. I guess it would be here as well. I was told to wait a while and review in a different mind set to see if the message you want to give is the one that is actually written before publishing.

Yeah Diane I wrote an article and used grammarly which I usually never use. I trusted that editing program so much that I didn't bother to go over what the program had done. It had taken out all of my your and put in you's. I had decided to write in first and second person rather than third. Well after I had posted it I looked at it and I was shocked. I let a perfectly great article turn into one that was not.

Yes, I can understand. Grammarly is a useful tool. But it cannot take the place of a human set of eyes. I use Grammarly but I don't publish until I've given the post a final edit by me or another trusted human.

Very true Diane, but it is something I am really bad at. My eye seems to see what it thinks should be there rather than what is actually there at times. I have even tried reading from the end to the beginning, but still miss things. But having said that, no matter how many times I would read something, I would find something to change. When I had staff they used to be furious with me as they would make my requested changes and then I would find more!!

Yes, I can understand both of those issues, Geoffrey. Editing is not a 1-2-3 finished forever issue, is it? We continue to perfect, even after we publish!

You are so right. I published a new article on my website last night, but before I did that, I used the spell check button that's included in the writing tool here at WA after that, I read the entire article and corrected a number of grammatical errors had I not done that. The article was finally ready to publish. It really doesn't take that long to read through your entire article to find those errors. I do that with every article.

That's quite true, Brian. Just a few minutes of time and what a difference it makes!

Totally agree Diane.

There is no point in publishing something that contains glaring grammatical errors. Although I am sure it's happened to many of us more than once!

I just wonder if anyone has ever been guilty of over-editing!

Sometimes I seem to spend longer editing and changing little details on a post than I actually do writing it!

Is this just me trying to be a perfectionist or do others have this experience too?

Enjoy your weekend my friend.

I am often guilty of over-editing. It's that nagging perfectionist. I try to set a limit as to the number of rereads I do.

Limiting those rereads is a great idea Diane, one that I have not yet mastered myself!!

How many do you recommend as a maximum??

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