Editing and Proofreading Your Work

Why check your work?

When you finish writing, you are not quite done yet! Even the best authors go back and check their work. This has two parts: editing and proofreading. Doing them makes your writing clearer, neater and more enjoyable to read.

Editing: making it better

Editing means improving your ideas and words. You ask, "Does this make sense? Can I make it better?"

When you edit, you might:

• Add a word or detail to make a sentence clearer.
• Take out a word you repeated too many times.
• Swap a plain word for a more exciting one (big → enormous).
• Reorder sentences so the ideas flow.

Editing is like tidying your room — you move things around until everything is in the best place.

Proofreading: hunting for mistakes

Proofreading is the careful hunt for small mistakes. You go slowly, looking for slips like:

• Missing capital letters at the start of sentences and names.
• Missing full stops, question marks or exclamation marks.
• Spelling mistakes.
• Missing or extra words.

Your proofreading checklist

Use this checklist every time:

Check	Tick when done
Every sentence starts with a capital letter	☐
Every sentence ends with . ? or !	☐
Names of people and places have capitals	☐
Spellings look correct	☐
It all makes sense when read aloud	☐

Top tips that really help

• Read it aloud. Your ears catch mistakes your eyes miss.
• Read slowly, pointing at each word.
• Take a break, then come back with fresh eyes.
• Use a coloured pen to mark the fixes.

Spot the mistakes

Can you find three mistakes in this sentence?

my friend tom likes to swim

Fixes: My (capital), Tom (capital name), and a full stop at the end → My friend Tom likes to swim.

Try it yourself

Take a piece of your own writing and use the checklist above. How many fixes can you find? Every fix makes you a stronger writer.

Proofreading is easier when you remember the basics, so review capital letters and full stops. To make your editing sparkle, swap dull words using opposites and synonyms.