Three editing │ proofreading hacks for beginners … and pros.

Originally posted on Quora here.

Many of the skills required to write well transfer to editing and proofreading, but even the best writers tend to have blind spots when proofing their own work. Whether you’re reviewing your own essay or a colleague’s, I’m confident that you’ll find the following tools and method valuable.

1) Hemingway App. This free online tool (also available for download at a low cost) is all but indispensable. It flags difficult to read sentences, passive voice, complex language and use of adverbs. While none of these things is inherently wrong, they are often overused, which detracts from readability and overall writing quality.

2) Trees: Kill them. Print off the essay in a font you’re unaccustomed to and do a final proofread out loud. Taking your eyes off a screen and switching to an unfamiliar font helps you change gears mentally and flag mistakes you may otherwise overlook. This is especially valuable when reviewing your own work.

3) Word density tools and readability algorithms. There are several free, online word density tools such as this one by Small SEO Tools. If SEO is a priority, be mindful that too few (or, in some cases, too many) SEO keywords can detract from rankings. From a writing quality standpoint, however, using the same words more than a couple times in an essay (“underwhelming,” “compulsory,” “witty,” whatever) may make your writing appear dull or stunted. Don’t become obsessed with your thesaurus, just use this to identify which words you or your colleagues tend to overuse.

Readability scores such as Flesch Reading Ease are also useful, especially for recent grads or academics writing for non-academic audiences. Hemingway uses a readability algorithm, but you can also enable Flesch Reading Ease with Microsoft Word’s review function. Generally, you want to shoot for Grade Level 8 or 9.*

Two parting notes

First, every first draft sucks. Don’t sweat it.

Second, as useful as these tools are, remember at the end of the day you’re writing for humans, not bots. Don’t act on every suggestion. When in doubt, fall back on basic communication skills and your knowledge of the reader. If reviewing your own work, this may require you to navigate between a shrill inner critic and overconfidence—a narrow channel for many of us.

“Language is more like mathematics than magic. It is a program code, for the computer called the mind, and its sequencing is not arbitrary at all.”

--John Franklin

*Note, this doesn’t mean imposing a strict limit your vocabulary or the maturity of your written work. Just don’t use two words where one will do and simplify your language enough that your target audience will enjoy it.

P.S. – Yes, I did use my own advice in drafting this response.