74 Part I: Winning with Writing

Changing Hats: Going

from Writer to Editor
The writer and editor roles reinforce each other.

✓ In writing, you plan your message or document based on

what you want to accomplish and your analysis of the
reader (which I cover in Chapter 2), brainstorm content
possibilities, organize logically and create a full draft.
Always think of this piece as the first draft because every
message, whatever its nature and length, deserves
editing and will hugely benefit from it.
✓ In editing, you review your first draft and find ways to
liven word choice, simplify sentences and ensure that
ideas hang together. You also evaluate the ‘macro’ side:
whether the content and tone deliver the strongest
message to your audience and help build relationships.
(I cover all of this in Chapter 2.) Furthermore, as you
make a habit of regularly editing your writing, your
first-draft writing improves as well.
✓ In proofreading, you review your writing in nitty-gritty
detail to find and correct errors – mistakes in spelling,
grammar, punctuation, facts, references, citations,
calculations and more as relevant to the material.
Copyright © 2013. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Don’t expect to discard the editing process down the line as

you further refine your writing abilities. Professional writers
never stop relying on their editing skills, no matter how good
they get at their craft.

Improving your editing abilities goes a long way toward

improving the impact of everything you write. The following
tools and tricks make you a more capable and confident
self-editor.

Choosing a way to edit

You have three main ways to edit writing. Try each of the fol-
lowing and see which you prefer – but realize you can always
switch your editing method to best suit a current writing task
or timeline.

Canavor, N. (2013). Business writing for dummies. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.
Created from europarl on 2022-11-28 10:27:38.
 Chapter 4: Self-Editing: Professional Ways to Improve Your Own 75
Option 1: Marking up print-outs
Before computers, both writers and editors worked with ‘hard
copy’ because it was the only choice. For about a century
before computers, people wrote on typewriters, revised the
results by hand, and then retyped the entire document. If you
were reviewing printer’s proofs – preliminary versions of mate-
rial to be printed – you used a shorthand set of symbols to tell
the typesetter what to change.

These symbols offered uniformity; every editor and printer knew

what they meant. Typing and printing processes have changed
radically, but the marks are still used today and remain a helpful
way for communicating text changes between people.

Many professional writers still edit their work on hard copy

print-outs because on-screen editing strains the eyes and
makes you more error-prone. You may find physically editing
your copy with universal marks to be more satisfying; you
have something to show for your editing efforts when you’re
done. Editing on paper can help you switch over to the editor’s
side of the table. Of course, you must then transfer the changes
to your computer.

Proof marks vary between the US and UK, and some

organizations have special marks or special meanings.

Option 2: Editing on-screen

Copyright © 2013. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

After you draft a document, you can simply read through it

and make changes. Younger writers may never have consid-
ered any other system. You can substitute words, reorganize
the material by cutting and pasting with a few mouse clicks
or keystrokes. The down side to this method of editing is that
you’re left with no record of the change process. (See the next
section for a useful alternative.)

When maintaining a copy of your original text matters, save

your new version as a separate document. Amend its name to
avoid hassle later, in case a series of revised versions develops.

Keep your renaming simple yet specific. If the document is

titled ‘Gidget article,’ title the edited version ‘Gidget 2,’ for
example, or date it –‘Gidget 11.13.’ When you edit someone
else’s document, tack on your initials: ‘Gidget.nc’, for example.
Be sure your titling allows for easy identification of the various
versions to avoid time-wasting confusion later.

Canavor, N. (2013). Business writing for dummies. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.
Created from europarl on 2022-11-28 10:27:38.
 76 Part I: Winning with Writing

Option 3: Tracking your changes

Most word-processing software offers a handy feature to
record every change you make to the text in a document. In
Word 2010, select Review, then Track Changes.

When you choose to track changes, all changes show up on

the copy in a color other than black or in small text boxes
off to the side (depending on your choice of screen view).
Deletions appear as strike through text or off to the side.

The system takes some personal trial and error but provides a
useful tool for your editing experiments.

When you’re tracking changes on an extensively edited docu-

ment, you can end up with something quite complicated.
You can spare yourself the nitty-gritty of every deletion and
insertion by selecting to view as ‘Final’ with all your proposed
changes included. You don’t lose your edits; they’re just
hidden from immediate view.

When you finish editing, save a version that shows the revi-
sions, then go back to the Review tab and choose ‘Accept
or Reject Changes.’ Accept all changes, or go through your
document section by section or even sentence by sentence.
You emerge with a clean copy; save this version separately
from the original. Proof the new version carefully because new
errors creep in when you edit.
Copyright © 2013. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

The Track Changes tool can help you improve your writing
process and offers a way to share refinement stages with
others when needed. (Numerous online tools, such as
GoogleDocs, help you share document development.) But
when you ultimately send the message to your audience, be
sure your final saved version does not reveal the change
process: Turn Track Changes off.

Distancing yourself from

what you write
The first step for a self-editor is to consciously assume that
role. Forget how hard some of the material was to draft, or
how attached you are to some of the ideas or language. Aim
to judge as objectively as you can whether your message
succeeds and how to improve it.

Canavor, N. (2013). Business writing for dummies. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.
Created from europarl on 2022-11-28 10:27:38.
 Chapter 4: Self-Editing: Professional Ways to Improve Your Own 77
Your best tool to achieve this distance is the one that cures all
ills: time. I suggest in Chapter 2 that for everything you write, allo-
cate roughly one-third the available time to planning, one-third to
drafting and one-third to editing. But ideally, that last third isn’t in
the same continuous timeframe as the first two stages.

Try to build in a pause between drafting and editing. Pausing

overnight (or longer) is highly recommended for major busi-
ness documents. If your document is really long or important,
try to edit and re-edit in a series of stages over days or even
weeks. Some copy, such as a website home page or marketing
piece, may never be ‘finished.’ It evolves over time.

For short and/or less consequential messages, an hour or two

between drafting and editing helps. A top-of-your-head email
or text message that doesn’t seem important can still land you
in a lot of trouble if you send it out without vetting. If an hour
isn’t possible, just a quick trip to the coffee maker to stretch
your legs can clear your mind and refresh your eyes.

Practicing the stripper’s art: In writing,

less is usually more
Your goal for every message and Build every message with complete
business document is ‘just enough.’ words, sentences and commonly
Copyright © 2013. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

This applies both to overall content accepted grammar. (Abbreviated

and specific word choices: messages do have their place,
however. See ‘Texting and instant
✓ Content: Aim to makes your
messaging’ for more.)
point and achieve your goal
without overkill that loses Many documents suggest their
your reader or damages your own lengths. If you’re answer-
argument. ing an RFP (Request for Proposal)
that’s ten pages long, a one-page
✓ Words: A windy presentation
response doesn’t suffice. You must
dilutes impact and may slow
supply detail and backup. If you’re
reading to the point of no return.
applying for a job, even a well-done
Aim to state your case, make or
paragraph can’t take the place of
respond to a request, present
a résumé. Always take a document’s
an argument or accomplish
purpose into account to judge
any given purpose in the most
appropriate length and depth.
concise way.

Canavor, N. (2013). Business writing for dummies. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.
Created from europarl on 2022-11-28 10:27:38.