Editing & Proofreading

Editing & proofreading is a very tricky but essential phase of writing. An edited writing is appreciated more and gets good reviews. This job can be done by the author. But it will be beneficial if an experienced professional is entrusted for this purpose. Nowadays people like to hire a virtual assistant for this kind of assignments. They may work for a production house or may freelance, but they need to be experts in this field.

As a virtual assistant you have to go through the writing attentively and slowly. This job has two distinct and equally important activities; reading and editing. You need to read the document carefully to focus on spelling and typology. The meaning and aim of each sentence needs to be understood clearly. While reading you have to point and concentrate on every word. It is a good practice not to proof for every type of mistake at once. You must do one proof for spelling, another for missing/additional spaces, consistency of word usage, font sizes, etc. You need to proof the body of the writing first then the headings. Headings are prone to error because writers often don't focus on them. Check twice the tiny lines and the little words such as in, or, if but. They are often interchanged. While reading, you must not skip your eyes from one line to another. This leads in overlooking errors. As an editor you have to ask yourself who, what, when, & why about each sentence, while you are reading the content. Reading a print out is always a better option. If you are working in a team, you may take two print outs. Read loudly one paper while another person follows line by line from the other copy. This minimizes chances for committing silly mistakes.

You need to have sound knowledge of standard word processing software. It helps if you use the "track changes" or "mark changes" functions. They make your comments apparent to other reviewers. It indicates additions and deletions in different colors. Also, keep in mind the region the work is intended for, because English spellings differ from one region to another. Hence what spelling is applicable for an American work might not be applicable for an British or Indian work! This job demands high amount of involvement and concentration. You need to apply your skills and perseverance to excel.