by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: April 06, 2009

There a great many tips to be considered for editing a manuscript effectively and some of them will depend on one of two circumstances. We will first be required to consider whether the manuscript is one which we ourselves produced or whether we are perhaps professionally editing the manuscript produced by a third party.

If we are looking at editing a manuscript which we ourselves have produced, the first tip and perhaps most effective of all is to set the manuscript aside following completion before we even contemplate editing it. If we begin the editing process immediately following completion of the manuscript, there is a great likelihood that any form of error or inaccuracy which we have made will go unnoticed. This is because our brain has not had time to refocus on anything else and is essentially still in the same mode as it was when we made the error in the first instance. It is therefore less likely to pick up on same without distraction and, essentially, refreshment.

The nature of the manuscript which we are looking to edit will determine for how long we should set it aside. If it is such as a small article, a couple of hours of unrelated activity should be sufficient for us to approach the editing procedure with a clear and critical eye and be likely to pick up on anything which we require or desire to change. If, on the other hand, we are talking about such as a full length novel, we should leave the editing for at least several days, if not longer.

When we are editing any manuscript, be it our own work or that of another, it is absolutely imperative that we take our time in doing so. We must ensure that we pay sufficient attention to the spelling of every word, the grammar and punctuation in every sentence and the structure of every paragraph and - if applicable - chapter. Speed reading, for example, is not something which has any place in editing and if the job is to be achieved effectively, we have to recognise this important consideration from the very outset.

It may be of course that when we are editing the manuscript, particularly in the case of longer works, that we come across whole sections of the text which we either wish to see eliminated or extensively revised. It is a good idea at this stage to simply take note of such requirements for action and not begin editing them at the stage of their discovery. This is simply because we may come across something at a later stage which will affect how we would like to see such pieces revised.

The above steps will allow us to edit any manuscript efficiently but what we must not lose sight of is that editing is not necessarily a one off procedure. If we do make extensive changes to the manuscript, we then have to follow the whole procedure again from the start and ensure that we have not made subsequent errors in the original editing of the script.

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