The Importance of Editing and Proofreading

I have a teachable moment I’d like to share with you. I slipped on the editing for the most recent critical response I turned in for my Master’s program. It wasn’t terribly bad, but there were still two mistakes and that’s bad for me. I had been working on it for hours before I submitted it, and that made me sloppy. I left a word I meant to remove and two words were flipped. This incident just reminded me that even editors need help sometimes, which brings me to the worst-kept secret in the writing/publishing world: everyone makes mistakes.

Whether you’re a writer or editor, you are just as capable of making a mistake as anyone else. Maybe you missed a comma or used “compliment” instead of “complement”. Maybe, in your haste to get the words out, you skip one or accidentally type them out of order. You could even be editing work for a client and forget some obscure grammatical rule, thus allowing an error to slip into the final copy. It happens to even the best writers and editors. That’s why we all need a second pair of eyes for editing and proofreading.

Before I go any further, I need to clear up a common murky area. As minor as it seems, there is a difference between editing and proofreading. Editing involves an in-depth examination of the writing for flow, word choice, style, and, yes, spelling and grammatical errors. This process usually goes hand-in-hand with rewriting, albeit after the beta reading stage. (Of course, it all depends on what your personal writing process is.)

Proofreading, on the other hand, happens much later in the writing cycle. It typically takes place just before the work hits the shelves, physical and electronic. Proofreaders check for grammar and spelling as well as other superficial elements of the work, including the work’s layout. (For example, they would let you know if there’s weird paragraph formatting in an e-book or an inconsistency in font size/style.)

No matter if you write short stories, novels, poems, or essays, editing and proofreading are essential. Otherwise, you will end up with egg on your face. If you work as an editor professionally, you still need to have a second set of eyes look over your writing, even for a school assignment. (Don’t let your pride get in the way like mine did. As my mother always says: if you can’t be a good example, at least be a horrible warning.)

Poorly-edited writing is one of the quickest ways to alienate potential readers. If your work is riddled with spelling and grammatical errors or it lacks flow, readers will not want to suffer that no matter how good the plot or message behind it is. Unfortunately, too many self-published writers make this mistake. They assume that they have looked through the writing enough to have caught all the errors and proceed to publish their books or collections without getting someone else to look at it. Why? One word: money.

Professional editing and proofreading cost a lot of money. Even Fiverr editors and proofreaders can charge a pretty penny, if they’re good and experienced. Mind you, some charge less and are still good, but they are typically either desperate for money or new to freelance editing, so don’t expect their rates to stay that cheap over time. (I’ve been that freelancer and I’ve learned quite a bit since I started a year ago.)

It’s preferable to get an unbiased editor or proofreader, but if you can’t afford it, friends and family are better than nothing. Some might be too kind to let you know about your errors but others aren’t, so if you rely on friends and family for editing, make sure to cast your net wide. That way, you’ll have a better chance of getting someone who will be honest and helpful.

One is better than none, but two or more editors and proofreaders will be your best bet. Like I said before, everyone in this industry makes mistakes. We’re only human, after all. Sometimes errors just run by us unnoticed. The English language is also very complicated. It’s hard to keep track of all the rules and exceptions. Very few, if any, people know all the rules and apply them properly. That’s not to mention the issue of American English vs. Queen’s English (U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.). For those reasons, multiple editors and proofreaders are preferable to one.

This process is long and tedious, and you need to take this into account while planning your book release timeline, if you’re self-publishing. There will be no instant gratification. However, editing and proofreading are essential. It’s bad enough to turn in a short assignment with one or two spelling/grammatical errors; publishing a full-length book unedited could ruin your career before it’s really begun. Even if you’re submitting your manuscript to a traditional agent or publisher, you’ll want it to be fairly polished. Otherwise, they won’t take you seriously.

Do you think editing and proofreading are necessary? What has been your experience in these areas? Have you had better luck with professional editors and proofreaders, or have friends and family worked just as well for you? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.