Section 2: The Writing Process
Editing
When you are satisfied with how you have revised your draft's content and overall organization, you should move to the editing stage of the writing process. Editing focuses on making your writing as effective as possible. You will focus on improving the sentences and wording of your draft during the editing stage. In other words, you will now focus on your draft's lower-order concerns.
Figure 1 shows where the editing stage happens during the writing process.
Key Questions to Ask During the Editing Stage
Cohesion
Cohesion refers to how your paragraphs, sentences, and words work together to give the impression of a unified whole. Check the cohesion of your text by asking the following questions:
- Are your sentences clearly connected? Can you use transition words or phrases to make these connections clearer?
- When you use pronouns like “he,” “she,” “they,” “this,” “that,” is it clear what the pronoun refers to? Check how far apart the antecedent (the noun the pronoun refers to) and the pronoun are. If there is one or more sentences between the antecedent and the pronoun, they may be too far apart.
Clarity
A text is clear when the reader is not confused or distracted by any sentences or words. This is what we mean by clarity. To check for clarity, ask:
- Have you used precise nouns and verbs? For instance, could you replace vague nouns like “thing” with something more specific? Or could you replace weak verbs like “to be” verbs with something clearer? For example, if you have written, “There are many approaches to editing,” you could change it to, “Writers approach editing differently,” which clarifies the actor and the action.
- Are your sentences clear? Read your writing aloud or ask someone else to. If you stumble over a sentence, you could edit it to make it flow better.
- Are any of your sentences too long? Check to see if you have any overly complicated sentences. It is a good idea to break these complex sentences into smaller ones.
Conciseness
The most effective writing uses the fewest words to convey a message. Learning to cut out extra words is an important skill! Here are some questions to help you improve the conciseness of your writing.
- Does your text fall under the assignment word count? If not, where can you cut out unnecessary words?
- Do you use any common expressions that can be shortened? For instance, phrases like “due to the fact” can be reduced to a single word, “because.”
- Do you use qualifiers like “very,” “somewhat,” or “really”? These words can often be eliminated.
Tone
Tone refers to a writer's attitude or emotion in their text. Different genres and writing contexts call for different tones. For instance, you may not want to use an informal, sarcastic tone in a cover letter to a potential employer. That tone might lose you a job! To check for tone, ask yourself:
- What tone does this piece of writing call for? Formal or informal? Optimistic, pessimistic, neutral? Personal or objective? Does the tone of my writing reflect this expectation?
- Am I using words that might unintentionally alienate my audience?
- Are my word choices reflective of the level of formality required? For instance, contractions like “don’t” may not be appropriate in a formal text.
Differences Between Revising, Editing, and Proofreading
Revision, editing, and proofreading are different stages in the writing process, although the distinction between these activities is often blurred. In addition, you may hear different people use these terms in different ways. Table 1 summarizes the main differences between revision, editing, and proofreading.
| Revision | Re-seeing your draft from your reader’s perspective Focused on higher-order concerns like content and organization Includes adding, deleting, reordering, and rewriting material Sometimes called “substantial editing” Professional writers often work with test readers and an editor when revising their drafts |
| Editing | Usually, this takes place after the writer is satisfied with the content of a draft Includes rewriting sentence structure for clarity, cohesion, and conciseness; reducing word count; and aligning tone and style with your audience’s expectations Editors and copyeditors often work with professional writers at this stage of the writing process |
| Proofreading | Adds polish to a nearly-finished text Includes a review of grammar, spelling, punctuation, citation, and overall formatting; checks for correctness and consistency No significant changes to content or structure Professional copyeditors or proofreaders usually do this work. The writer approves changes |
Using Generative AI for Editing
Consider academic integrity
Please check with your instructor, course syllabus and your institution’s policies about using Generative AI before you use these tools to edit your text.
Use it effectively
Generative AI can help you edit, but be careful here. Using Generative AI to edit your text may introduce language that no longer sounds like you as a writer. If you use Generative AI to edit, use it to help you become a better editor. Prompt it to make suggestions on your text's coherence, clarity, conciseness and tone, and ask it to explain the rationale behind these suggestions. Be sure to tell the tool not to rewrite your text.
Beware of the limitations
Generative AI will teach you to write in a homogenized way. It looks for common patterns in texts and will advise you on ways to ensure that your text follows those patterns. Ultimately, this could lead to uninspired and dull writing. This might not be what you want.
Consider your learning journey
Learning to edit your text while still sounding human will be an important part of human writing in the future. If you delegate this job completely to Generative AI, we may all start to write similarly.
Consider ethics
- Remember that when you share your writing with Generative AI, it may be added to the tool’s learning database. It may be used in future responses to other users. Do not disclose any private information.
- Consider the ethical implications of using these tools. Make sure you acknowledge your use of Generative AI in the acknowledgements section of your work.
Attributions
"Editing" by Nancy Bray, Introduction to Academic Writing, University of Alberta, is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
