Editing Tips

From complete beginners to experienced editors, our blog has something for everyone! Learn about the different types of editing – developmental, comprehensive, line, and copy editing – and read our expert advice on editing all different types of documents (including business, creative, and academic).

  • Proofreading and Editing Medical Writing

    Proofreading and Editing Medical Writing

    Jun 21, 2022

    • Editing Tips
    • Proofreading Tips

    We focus on academic, creative, and business writing in the Becoming A Proofreader and Becoming An Editor courses. But another area that proofreaders and editors may find work is medical writing. Here, then, we’ll outline what to expect when working with medical writing. Editing and Proofreading Medical Writing Medical writing is any writing that focuses […]

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  • Proofreading and Editing Journalism

    Proofreading and Editing Journalism

    Jun 20, 2022

    • Editing Tips
    • Proofreading Tips

    In the Becoming A Proofreader and Becoming An Editor courses, we focus primarily on academic, creative, and business writing. But if you work as a freelancer, you may find yourself working with other client types as well, including journalists and journalistic organizations. To give you a sense of what to expect in these cases, then, […]

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The Ultimate Glossary of Proofreading and Editing Terms

  • 5 Tips on How to Write the Perfect Christmas Card

    Dec 18, 2021

    • Editing Tips
    • Grammar
    • Proofreading Tips
    • Punctuation
    • Spelling

    It’s that time of year again! Christmas is just around the corner, and you’ve got a lot to do – wrapping presents, buying food, writing Christmas cards… the list goes on. It would be easy to let your proofreading standards slip! But to help you avoid this, we’ve come up with five tips on writing […]

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  • Proofreading Tips: How to Use the Compare Tool in Microsoft Word

    Dec 10, 2021

    • Editing Tips
    • Proofreading Software and Tools
    • Proofreading Tips

    When proofreading your clients’ documents, keeping track of all your changes can be a chore. Thankfully, Microsoft Word has tools that can spare you the trouble. One is the Compare tool, a function used to highlight the differences between two documents. This function can be a lifesaver for proofreaders. In this post, we will walk […]

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  • Editing Tips: Editing IMRaD Essays

    Nov 11, 2021

    • Academic Editing
    • Editing Tips
    • Proofreading Tips
    • Style

    If you do a lot of academic editing or proofreading, chances are you will come across an IMRaD essay. Indeed, you may have worked on several without even knowing it! The term IMRaD stands for Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion, which is a method of structuring essays. It’s worth yourself with this structure because it’s […]

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  • Proofreading Tips: How to Annotate a PDF

    Jul 22, 2021

    • Editing Tips
    • Proofreading Software and Tools
    • Proofreading Tips

    As a freelance proofreader, you may be asked to proofread a PDF at some point. And if you’re used to the tools in Microsoft Word, the process for marking up a different type of document can seem daunting. Once you get the hang of it, though, proofreading a PDF is simple. In this post, we’ll […]

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  • Editing Tips: Fact-Checking Fiction

    Jul 03, 2021

    • Creative Writing
    • Editing Tips
    • Proofreading Tips
    • Style

    Fiction is all about the suspension of disbelief, and factual errors can be distracting. Thus, when editing or proofreading a novel, you might need to raise issues of factual accuracy for your client, especially when a work of fiction is set in the real world. In this post, then, we set out some tips on […]

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  • How to Create a Custom Shortcut in Microsoft Word

    May 27, 2021

    • Editing Tips
    • Proofreading Software and Tools
    • Proofreading Tips

    The keyboard shortcuts in Microsoft Word can be useful when proofreading, giving you quick access to common commands. But what about when a command you need doesn’t have a shortcut? The solution is to create a custom keyboard shortcut or two. For example, rather than switching between All Markup and Simple Markup via the ribbon […]

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  • He Said, She Said: Tips for Editing Dialogue Tags

    He Said, She Said: Tips for Editing Dialogue Tags

    Mar 18, 2021

    • Creative Writing
    • Editing Tips
    • Style

    Dialogue tags can help readers keep track of who is speaking in writing. But many authors overuse or misuse dialogue tags. As an editor or proofreader, then, it is worth keeping an eye out for issues when working on a novel or any other writing that features dialogue. In this post, we’ll look at common […]

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  • Editing Tips: Scene Breaks in Books and Manuscripts

    Editing Tips: Scene Breaks in Books and Manuscripts

    Feb 21, 2021

    • Creative Writing
    • Editing Tips
    • Formatting
    • Proofreading Tips
    • Style

    When a book is divided into sections, each chapter will typically start on a new page. But what about scene changes within a chapter? How do writers and publishers indicate a shift of perspective, time, or location? And what do you need to know about this as a proofreader? In this post, we take a […]

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