Pfeiffer Library: Editing and Revising: Editing and Revising

Definitions

Editing versus Revising

Editing is the process of proofreading your work for errors easily caught through sight and sound. This includes grammatical and formatting issues.

The following Research Guide provides additional information to help you proofread your work:

Mohn, E. (2017). Critical Skills: Proofreading. Salem Press Encyclopedia.
Research Starter discussing the Proofreading process.

Revising looks in more detail at the content of the essay. In revision you might look over...

the introduction
the thesis statement
the support used
body paragraphs
the conclusion

Additional information on what to look for in these sections of your essay during the revision process is covered under Useful Techniques.

Editing and revising are separate tasks. Editing focuses on structure. Revising focuses on content. Treat them individually so that you're looking for a specific set of issues, but not so many issues that you easily lose track of where you are in the process.

Editing and Revising are steps used in the Writing Process. To learn more about the Writing Process, we recommend the following resource:

Dziak, M. (2018). Writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, publishing). Salem Press Encyclopedia.
The writing process is the series of actions taken by writers to produce a finished work. Writers, educators, and theorists have defined the writing process in many different ways, but it generally involves prewriting tasks, writing tasks, and post-writing tasks. More specifically, these tasks include planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing, in approximately that order.

Benefits

Benefits of editing and revising your own work include:

improving your grade
refining your attention to detail
learning from mistakes so that you don't repeat them

Benefits of helping others edit and revise their work include:

improving your editing and revision skills
learning to catch different types of errors
all the feel-good vibes that come with helping someone

Read more about these benefits in our Peer Review guide.