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Every writer knows that the first draft is rarely the finished product — revising and editing rounds occur between the rough draft and publication.
Revision and editing both describe work done to improve and refine a piece of writing, but they are two separate parts of the overall process.
Learn about the differences between revising and editing to get the most out of the process. Then, streamline your editing process with the Originality.ai Grammar Checker.
Revising and editing address different aspects of written content. Each is a separate step in the writing process, with its focus and goals for improvement or clarification.
Revision occurs before editing begins. The writer typically does it before the content is sent to an editor. When a first draft is complete, the writer begins revising by considering the overall strengths and weaknesses of the content itself, such as:
Revision allows the writer to step back and observe the writing from a different perspective. It’s the time to ensure the message is conveyed as intended and consider how a reader will experience it.
While revision may sound a lot like structural editing, this step comes even before those big-picture edits. It's the strengthening of the writing and messaging before editing begins.
After revision, editing begins. Depending on the type and length of writing, the editing process can involve up to four different stages or types of editing:
The editing process moves from the big picture to the tiny details, focusing on different aspects of writing at each step. Whether working with an editor or self-editing, it is best to break it into stages.
During editing, there are many things to look for structurally, at the sentence level, and in grammar mechanics.
Breaking up the process into stages helps to make it more manageable and allows you to narrow the focus on just a few details at a time.
Each round of edits is completed before the next one begins. For instance, the big-picture developmental and structural edits should be completed, and a new version of the content should be drafted before line edits begin.
The same should happen again before moving on to the copy editing and proofreading stages.
With each step, the copy gets more refined and polished until it is ready to be finalized for publication.
If you are the writer and editor of a piece of content, you need to go through each of these steps independently. However, when you spend a lot of time with your own words, seeing the writing from a reader’s perspective can be challenging. But it can be done, and there are ways to make it easier.
Create some distance between the writing and revising phases. If your timeline allows, let the writing sit a bit and work on something else, go on a walk, read a book — in short, take a break, so you can see them with fresh eyes when you return.
When you return to revise, have a checklist ready of what you are looking for. Read the work aloud to listen for any gaps in the overall structure, argument, organization, and completeness of your writing. Make your revisions, then take another break before moving on to editing. Grab your editing checklist. Allow for breaks before each phase.
Giving yourself time to gain a fresh perspective is an excellent way to refresh your eye for detail at each step. In the end, you’ll have a polished piece that is revised, edited, and ready for publication.
Then, to complete your editing checks, review your copy with the Originality.ai Grammar Checker to capture any spelling, grammar, or punctuation mistakes.
Discover more editing and grammar best practices in our top guides:
