Editing and Proofreading

We don't edit for perfection, we edit for clarity. The reading tells you to ask yourself a lot of questions about your writing. "Does each paragraph focus on a point?" "Does every sentence relate to your main idea?" Where have you placed your most important information - at the beginning, middle, or end?" When editing you have to look at your writing as a whole, and then pick out what disrupts the main idea of your paper. If you have a paragraph that doesn't relate to your topic it needs to be thrown out or revised. Irrelevant material throws the audience off of what your trying to say. Your writing needs to have good transitions of thought, making your paper flow so the reader stays with your main idea.
The reading breaks editing down into three categories; editing paragraphs, editing sentences, and editing words. When editing, you will have to go over a paper more than once. This gives you an easy way to break it down. First edit the paragraphs, then the sentences, and then check for common spelling errors. Using the three steps when editing will help you break the paper down so you don't miss anything.
"Proofreading your final draft with care will ensure that your message is taken seriously." Proofreading is the final stage of the editing process. When proofreading your looking for little mistakes. Things like mixed-up fonts or missing pages will hurt your credibility as a writer. Don't trust spell check, it doesn't read your paper.