by Sarah Arnette

Created on: November 14, 2009

Editing is the second most important thing that one can do when writing, right behind having the creative talent to write. Even the best writers can have their work discarded for a lack of editing. It is extremely important to have every piece edited for grammatical and spelling errors. It is also very important that one rereads the piece for clarity and set up as well.

Many writers have the creative talent. Some writers even have the ability to see an error before rereading the piece that they just wrote. Some writers have the uncanny ability to spell everything right and always use proper spelling. Most writers cannot do this though. Especially those writers who are consistently writing while distracted by children, pets or other needs need to have their pieces edited.

A lack of editing can result in a piece that is full of misspellings and grammatical errors. This can cause the piece to be rejected as less than perfect. The publishers may not accept the piece and the public may reject it as unreliable. For this reason alone writers need to practice good editing practices. This can cause a following of fan to stop reading one's work. This can cause publishers to drop their end of the contracts. This can cause the fall of a writer. All of this can be prevented with proper editing.

Editing a piece can be done a couple ways. The first way is to hire a professional or amateur editor. This can be done by looking at various editing websites or placing an ad on online website such as www.online-writing-jobs.com. This can get costly though, and with most writers not making much in their calling, they cannot afford to hire their own editor. The second way is to use an editing program.

Most writing programs come with some type of editing system on it. Both Microsoft Word and Word Processor have spell check. While Word Processor will check both spelling and simple grammar, Microsoft Word has a more complete editing system. There are also other editing programs that one can purchase online. These help to even teach individuals how to become better writers and why the manner they were using is incorrect.

No matter what method of editing an individual uses, it is important to reread the piece that one wrote. This is because editing is not necessarily just about the grammar and the spelling. It can also be about the set up of the piece and the flow. Online editing and editing programs cannot tell if the piece is poorly setup. Rereading the piece can prevent a piece being improperly set up or not making any sense.

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