A writer’s work doesn’t end when the words are on the page. You still need to make sure your text is error-free and as polished as it can be, and you do this by editing and proofreading. Although people sometimes use the terms to mean the same thing, editing and proofreading are two distinct activities. Editing focuses on the bigger issues, like content and structure, clarity, and flow. Proofreading is focused on checking grammar and sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, and formatting. It’s the final polish.

A few tips can help you perform both activities. First, think like a reader, not a writer. This helps you become more objective. Try reading your text out loud, too. Your ears may pick up on errors you haven’t noticed, and edit or proofread in stages. Don’t try to fix every kind of issue on your first pass. Instead, work through the document several times, focusing only on a few kinds of issues each time. Make sure you have good resources available. Online dictionaries and usage guides will help you get things right. And don’t put too much trust in your computer.

The spell check won’t catch everything.

When you’re editing for content and structure, it’s a good idea to leave some time between the writing and editing stages. That will help you get some distance from your work, so you’ll be more able to make tough choices about cutting sentences you like that don’t add anything to your point. Try reading your paragraphs out of order to make sure each one makes sense on its own. Stop at the end of each paragraph to check that you’ve completed every edit you need to make. And create an editing log to keep track of problems that frequently appear in your work. That will help you catch your common errors quickly next time you’re editing a document.

Once you’re happy with your document’s content, proofread it to catch mechanical errors. Here, a good method is to read your text from bottom to top. The unfamiliar order can help you find errors. You can also add paragraph breaks after each sentence. You’ll remove them later, but it’ll help you to isolate each sentence on screen. If you’re working from a printed page, read with a cover. Use a blank page to cover all the text below the line you’re reading, so you can concentrate on one line at a time. And finally, read slowly so you’re focusing properly on each individual word.

You might think you don’t have time for all this, but allowing time for these key steps can be the difference between an error-free document and an embarrassing mistake. That’s worth taking some time for.

Suppose a vendor sends you a document where your name is misspelled, [such as Frank is spelled as F r e n k.] the wrong date is given, and the price quoted is incorrect. What kind of impression are you left with? By getting those elements wrong, the message has failed to achieve its purpose, and the writer’s credibility is undermined.

[The following mail displays: Hi Mark, I’ve gone through the invoice. All the details in the invoice are incorrect. Please resend the invoice with the correct details. Thanks, Frank.] And if you act on the incorrect information, you’ll make a faulty business decision.

All errors are distracting, but some inaccuracies can be more damaging than others. That’s why checking for accuracy is such an important editing task. You need to pay particular attention to names, dates, and numbers, because if you get these wrong, you’ll likely cause confusion and inconvenience for your reader and embarrassment for yourself. When checking for accuracy, go back to your source data to ensure you’ve represented it correctly, and make sure your source data is reliable. If practical, it’s good to find a second source for each of your data points.

Besides being accurate, your document needs to be complete. Check for any gaps in your information or argument. Is everything there that should be? If you created a plan before writing the document, check your document against that original plan to ensure you didn’t leave anything out. You could use a simple checklist. Write down the who, what, where, when, why, and how of your message. Then check that everything on your checklist is included in your text.

Let’s say you’ve written a memo that states the corporate communications manager from Sonical Group is going to discuss his company’s requirements. Please be present at the conference hall. When you review your checklist, you notice that you’ve left out some important details: the speaker’s name, the date, and the time of the meeting. You haven’t been as specific as you could be about the location either. So by using your checklist, you edit your memo to make it more precise. Mr. Dennis Cameron, the corporate communications manager from Sonical Group, is going to be with us to discuss the advertising needs of his company. Please be present at Conference Hall B on the second floor on Monday, February 23, at 14:30.

If your writing isn’t accurate and complete, you’re not likely to get the response you need. So when you’re editing, check your facts and figures, and consider whether you’ve provided all the necessary information.

You’ve written a client proposal working from an outline that includes an introduction, main body, and conclusion. But in your finished proposal, the structure seems all wrong, so your message isn’t clear. Don’t panic; the editing stage is the perfect time to get your structure right.

First, make sure your document begins with a clear introduction. Your introduction should clarify the purpose of your document and set the context clearly. Say you’ve written a memo to address employees’ Internet use at work, and your first sentence reads, Studies show that lots of companies have problems with Internet use. Well, what kind of problems? And what’s your purpose in talking about them? Later in the memo, it says a recent check by our IT administrator has shown that many employees are using the Internet inappropriately when they should be working. That’s a better place to begin. It lays out the problem and sets the context, so you make that sentence number one.

Next, review the body of your text. Does it provide relevant detail and logically structured paragraphs? To determine this, check that the method you’ve used to organize your points into paragraphs and to sequence these paragraphs is appropriate. Each part of your text should flow logically into the next. If you’re discussing requirements for a project, for example, you might organize your points in order of importance. But if you’re discussing a series of events, a chronological order is more appropriate. While editing, make sure your points flow clearly. Check that your sentences are logically arranged into paragraphs and your paragraphs are in the best possible sequence. Move them around if something’s not working. And take out paragraphs and sentences that aren’t relevant to your main point.

Finally, check that there’s a strong conclusion. This should leave readers with the key message of your text. If they need to act, the conclusion should tell them exactly what to do. So your memo about Internet use might end with those using the company’s Internet resources during office hours will be penalized—so please save the web browsing for home!

And finally, a great way to check the structure of your document is to create an outline of the finished text. Use it to examine the structure of your paragraphs, including whether each paragraph starts with a clear topic sentence. Check whether each paragraph sticks to a single idea or if there are missing sentences.

No matter how good your writing is, without a proper structure, your message will get lost. So take the time to get it right at the editing stage.

Nobody has time to puzzle over unclear writing or to read through pages and pages to find the point of a message. Make the time to edit for clarity and conciseness.

One way to improve clarity is to replace vague, imprecise, or abstract words with more concrete terms. Say you’ve written this, situational mistakes were made by the individuals during the process. That’s not very helpful to your readers. What kind of mistakes? Who made them? By replacing that vague language with less ambiguous terms, you’ll make the sentence clearer. So you could write, the software developers made programming mistakes during the initial creation of the product. Now we know who, what, and when.

Another way to improve clarity is to fix ambiguous pronouns. A common mistake is to use pronouns like she, it, or this without identifying what the pronoun refers to. You might write something like this could jeopardize the project’s success. What does this refer to? Unless the text immediately before the sentence makes the pronoun’s meaning clear, you should replace the pronoun with whatever it’s referring to. In this case, the vendor’s price increase is what could jeopardize the project’s success.

You also need to clarify any terms that might be unclear. Check your text for jargon or acronyms. And if you need to use them, make sure that you provide an explanation on first reference.

You might need to make comparisons clear. For instance, you may have written something like administrative costs for the third quarter were 10% higher. 10% higher than what? Spell it out. Higher than for the first and second quarters.

Be concise and eliminate wordy expressions. They can often be replaced with single words or even removed completely. [The following example displays: Due to the fact that planning is incomplete, I am of the opinion that we should postpone the project launch.] Instead of saying due to the fact that, why not just say, because, and I am of the opinion that could just as easily be I think.

Delete any redundancies you find. It’s easy to add extra words that mean the same thing, especially when you’re writing quickly. [The following example displays: Let’s meet at 8 a.m. in the morning and discuss ways to improve and enhance our collaboration.] So instead of 8:00 a.m. in the morning, 8:00 a.m. will do. And you don’t need to say improve and enhance, when you could just say improve.

Replace imprecise verbs with stronger, more active ones to cut down wordiness and make your message stronger. [The following example displays: We should look at the proposal very closely, and then John must be informed about the outcome.] So look closely could be study instead. And for impact, make sure you’ve used the active voice rather than the passive voice. So instead of saying John must be informed about the outcome, you could just say, you have to inform John of the outcome.

In all your writing, your readers will be grateful if you make your message as brief, concise, and clear as possible, which means your message is more likely to get the results you want.

How you say something is just as important as what you say. If you address someone inappropriately, they may not pay attention to your message. And in writing, you can’t change impressions quickly, like you can in a conversation. So if you say something that strikes someone as rude, you can’t immediately clarify your intention.

Editing will help make sure your tone is appropriate throughout your text. First, ensure business communications are courteous, polite, and respectful. Change any text that seems to lecture the reader or state the obvious. And avoid writing anything that suggests the reader is at fault or unreasonable. Suppose you’ve inquired about receiving a bonus that was lower than expected, and the written response is, you were lucky to get a bonus at all, considering how poorly you performed last year. Even if there’s some truth there, it’s unnecessarily rude. But a response like all bonuses were calculated based on employee performance evaluations for last year offers a reason in polite and respectful terms.

Words have implications beyond their direct meaning, their connotation, which can be positive or negative.

So to prevent misunderstanding, check the connotation of your words. It’s often best to replace negative language with more positive language. So instead of telling someone that you can’t do something by a certain date, say when you can do it. Rather than we cannot deliver your order by September 4, say, we can deliver your order by September 7. And when you’re describing someone or something, choose your words carefully. If you want to compliment a hard worker, be positive and call them conscientious, rather than a word with a negative connotation, like fussy.

You also want to avoid gender stereotypes. Don’t presume something about a group or individual because of gender. So if you’re inviting your employees to a corporate retreat, don’t suggest that the men would prefer to watch sports while the women go shopping. Aim for gender-neutral language. Whenever possible, avoid using pronouns like he or she, and don’t use gender specific terms like spokesman or chairman. Say spokesperson or chairperson instead.

And finally, make sure your language is appropriately formal or informal depending on who you’re writing to. When writing to a superior or to someone outside your organization, be more formal than you would with a close colleague. But informal doesn’t mean overly casual. Never use slang or inappropriate language. Rather than saying, catch you on the flipside, try see you soon instead.

Readers will be much more responsive to your writing if you use the right tone and the editing stage is a good time to make sure you got it right.

Proofreading is the polish on your document. When you check for errors such as incorrect word choice and punctuation mistakes, no matter how good your work is, [The following nonexample displays: Its important that we finish this by Friday. Its is spelled as I t s.] if you include glaring errors with commas or apostrophes, you undermine your credibility.

First check your word choice. It’s easy to mix up words that sound alike such as accept, meaning to consent to receive something and except, meaning not including. Complement means adding something that’s lacking, and compliment means to say something nice. If you confuse words like these, your writing might not mean what you want it to.

Punctuation issues can alter your meaning as well. Misused apostrophes are particular culprits. Writers often mix up words like its and your, [The following nonexample and example displays. The nonexample is Its raining. Its is spelled as I t s. The example is Your book is blue. Your is spelled as y o u r.] both of which change meaning just by adding an apostrophe. [The following example and nonexample displays.

The example is It’s raining. It’s is spelled as I t ‘ s. The nonexample is You’re book is blue. You’re is spelled as y o u ‘ r e.] If you’re unsure which version of its or your to use, try substituting the longer form of the contraction, it is or you are, into your sentence. If the sentence makes sense like it is raining, you need an apostrophe. And if it doesn’t as in you are book is blue, you don’t.

Another very common situation is misused commas. You use a comma after an introductory clause, such as determined to complete the project on time, comma, we worked on it all night. The comma adds a pause and shows that the first part of the sentence is separate. You also need a comma in a compound sentence, which is a sentence that includes two parts that could stand alone and is usually joined by conjunction. For example, in the sentence the report was long overdue, comma, but he did a thorough job, the comma shows the pause between the two parts. In both cases it can help to read the sentence aloud to show where the pause falls.

Make sure you don’t use a comma to do a job it’s not strong enough to do. If you join two full sentences using only a comma, you create an error called a comma splice. Such as I think we should go for the direct mail campaign, comma, it makes the most sense. The comma can’t carry the weight of both ideas. So you need to split the sentence into two, or else to use a semicolon, a dash, or a conjunction, such as and. And finally check your writing for misplaced commas, which can change the meaning of a sentence. Consider the sentence, Joe, comma, said the CEO, comma, is resigning at the end of June. Who’s resigning? Joe is. But if you remove the commas, it becomes Joe said the CEO is resigning at the end of June. Now it’s the CEO who’s resigning.

When proofreading, read your text carefully, and correct any punctuation and word usage errors. These errors can make your reader doubt your professionalism and your content, so clean them up.

A crucial step in proofreading is checking for grammar and spelling errors. Your word processing program probably has a grammar and spelling checker, but you can’t rely on it to catch everything. So check every sentence for errors yourself.

A common grammar problem is incorrect subject and verb agreement. The subject and verb in a sentence must agree in number and person. So the verb should be singular if the subject is singular, such as Peter is joining us. And plural if the subject is plural, such as Peter and his friend are joining us. But what if the sentence begins, Peter, as well as his friend, should the verb be plural or singular? In this case, as well as his friend is a non-essential clause, so use a singular verb. [Therefore the sentence is Peter, as well as his friend, is joining us.]

You should also look for unnecessary shifts in verb tense, moving between present, past, or future tense. For instance, Todd walked in and begins to talk, mixes past and present tense. It should be, Todd walked in and began to talk. Good writing uses full, grammatically complete sentences. So eliminate sentence fragments. For example, to apply for a position in the IT department is a fragment, a dependent clause with no subject or main verb. It should be rewritten or combined with another clause to become a full sentence, such as to apply for a position in the IT Department, contact Angela Kennedy with a resume and cover letter.

Make sure modifiers, words that add to the meaning of a noun, are attached to the right element of your sentence, whether you’re using a single word or phrase. For example, in the sentence, churning in the ocean, Maria anxiously watched the weather report for information about the storm. The opening phrase modifies Maria and places her into the ocean. Move the modifying phrase and it becomes, Maria anxiously watched the weather report for information about the storm, churning in the ocean.

The spell checker on your computer can be helpful, but check for spelling errors yourself as well. Pay attention to proper names, including the names of people, [such as Paul instead of Pal] companies, [such as Zoflina instead of Zolfina] and places. [such as New York instead of New Work.] Your spell checker will often miss those errors. Make sure your spelling is consistent throughout your document. If you’ve hyphenated a word once, spell it with the hyphen throughout the document. [The following example and nonexample displays. The example is The well-being of our employees is very important to us. Well-being is spelled as w e l l – b e i n g.

The nonexample is We have a program to improve employee wellbeing. Wellbeing is spelled as w e l l b e i n g.] The same is true of the capitalized words used as proper nouns. [The following example and nonexample displays. The example is See Section 1 for more details. Initial caps is used for section. The nonexample is As discussed in section 1, the project achieved excellent results. Initial caps is not used for section.]

If you’ve capitalized the S in Section 1 the first time you use it, don’t use a lowercase s the next time. Your formatting should be consistent too. [The following example and nonexample displays. The example is Case Study 1, where case study 1 is written in bold. The nonexample is Case Study 2, where case study 2 is written in italics.] If you’ve chosen to use bold for headings, use bold throughout and don’t suddenly switch to italics.

Proofreading for grammar and spelling errors, as well as for consistency, can rid your writing of errors that detract from your message and your reputation.

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