How Editing Differs from Revising in Essay Writing

According to Thesaurus, editing is synonymous with revising. These words share some similarities since they are both stages of writing. However, there are essential distinctions between revising and editing that writers need to spot as these two stages have different applications in the writing process.

Editing and revising are usually done after completing the first written draft. Still, these processes are part of a writer’s drafting process for some. To better understand the differences between the two approaches, there is an arising need to discuss them first separately.

What is Revising?

Revising is the process of adding, cutting, moving, or changing information to improve the written content. It takes a second look at the ideas created in the first draft and, thus, revising them.

Here are some of the detailed actions done during the revising stage:

• Adding necessary details and removing the unnecessary ones

• Clarifying pre-written thoughts

• Rewriting the ending to create more impact

• Improving cohesiveness through modifying sentence structure

Revision is the adjusting period of the writer’s ideas. Unity and coherence are the revising goals to be achieved in essay writing. A practical tip to accomplish these goals is to straightly re-read the pre-written essay to locate relative problems and create revisions on it.

What is Editing?

Editing comes after successful revisions. It is taking a second look at how ideas are articulated. Fixing any problems that involve grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure are the aspects dealt with during the editing process.

The following are some of the itemized activities done during the editing stage:

• Checking and changing incorrect spellings

• Replacing words that have less impact with highly effective ones

• Matching Noun and verb agreement in each sentence

• Affixing quotation marks for quoted sentences or paragraphs

The process of editing is the alteration of the writer’s words. It is the final process before any written outputs are available for public reading.

Revising improves an essay draft to sound better. At the same time, Editing makes it look better to explain the difference between revision and editing in layman's terms.

Both writing processes provide an opportunity for the writers to review their work. Good revision and editing skills will significantly help transform an initial amateur draft into a superb final output.