Write, Edit, Proof ( 英文執筆、英文編集、英文校正 )
Three separate kinds of work go into a piece of writing: writing, editing, and proofreading. Each of the three requires a different approach to reading a text. It may be helpful to try to think of yourself as three separate individuals: a writer, an editor, and a proofreader. Each time you work with your piece of writing, you are the writer, the editor, or the proofreader. Each of three kinds of work requires that you change your focus and use another skill set.
Let’s imagine an academic description in an English textbook for thesis writers explaining the three stages for an imaginary thesis on English education in Japan. For the sake of this essay, let’s call this thesis The Future of English Education in Japan. The three stages for this thesis are as follows:
- The writer prepares a first draft of The Future of English Education in Japan.
- The writer edits The Future of English Education in Japan.
- The writer proofreads The Future of English Education in Japan.
This essay will explain the three stages. We believe that a conscious knowledge of the stages and the different roles that you need to take in each stage will help you to become a better writer.
You as the writer
Real life and real work are never as clear and precise as textbooks describe. In reality, we first write a first draft of our thesis. At the first stage, writing time varies from writer to writer, but writers probably spend a little under half of the total time working on a thesis in the first stage.
In our imaginary English textbook on thesis writing, the writer sits down and writes a first draft of The Future of English Education in Japan. In reality, the writer may write a little, edit a little, and proofread a little. Primarily, the writer writes the first draft as it is not yet the appropriate time to devote significant time to editing and proofreading.
Editing
Then, the writer in the textbook world of academic thesis writing begins to edit the thesis. In reality, the writer may spend some of this time actually writing completely new paragraphs and doing some proofreading or editing and proofreading. Here is where writers spend their time cleaning up their writing. This is where the writer focuses on the craft of writing that is discussed in other essays and in the writing resources at the Aaron site. The craft of writing is a topic that countless books and websites have devoted time and guidance for both beginning and experienced writers. This editing stage, rewriting, is the heart of good writing. If we were to reduce rewriting to three words, they would be: clarity, strength, and brevity. The three words are the three goals for good writing. If we look at The Future of English Education in Japan, we need to ask ourselves if the thesis meets the three goals.
- Clarity
We need to ask if the message in The Future of English Education in Japan clear. You need to ask yourself as writer, editor, and proofreader if you told readers what you want to say. A thesis that the reader cannot understand is of limited value.
- Strength
You need to ask yourself if the message in The Future of English Education in Japan is strong. You need to ask yourself if the message will affect the reader.
- Brevity
The next question to ask yourself is if you have condensed the information in The Future of English Education in Japan.
Brevity does not mean a short thesis. It does mean not being overly verbose and using unnecessary words. Using extra words makes your thesis less clear and less effective. Adding unnecessary words to a thesis creates a product about as appropriate as starting a business letter, "Hey, you guys."
Proofreading
Lastly, the writer moves to proofreading. Our academic English textbook on thesis writing explains that we should never proofread our own work. We normally read for meaning, not to look for mistakes. This makes it very difficult to see our own mistakes. We think we know what we have written as it is clear in our minds. Whether it comes out as clearly to the reader is another question. This is why we should ask a friend or colleague to proofread our thesis for us. If editing is properly done, proofreading should only take a small amount of the total time. Proofreading is the process of looking for mistakes. Again, while we are proofreading, this may cause us to do more writing or editing. We rarely remain solely in the stage that our academic English textbook on thesis writing presents to us. After proofreading The Future of English Education in Japan, our project is finished and ready for publication.
It is not that difficult to proofread and eliminate most of the errors. It is not even that difficult to proofread and eliminate almost all of the errors. The difficulty is in catching every error. National Geographic, the well-known magazine, is very serious about publishing error free articles. After each article is written and edited, it is then proofread by four different proofreaders, each one proofreading four times. This totals sixteen proofreadings for each article. If we ask editors at National Geographic whether or not proofreading has caught every single error, we suspect they will say, “Not all.” Still, very few errors will escape their thorough proofreading.
Editing versus Proofreading
Many writers are not clear about the difference between editing and proofreading. The Oxford American Dictionary defines editing as to “prepare (written material) for publication by correcting, condensing, or otherwise modifying it.” That seems pretty clear. The Oxford American Dictionary defines proofread as to “read (printer's proofs or other written or printed material) and mark any errors.” Suddenly things do not seem that clear.
Putting it more simply, editing is the process of creating a coherent document.
In the editing stage, while we may do some writing and some proofreading,
our primary focus is editing. In the proofreading stage, while we may find
errors and need to go back to some editing or writing, we are looking at
a completed document for errors including: simple errors in factspelling
mistakessentence level grammar errorspunctuation problemsmiscommunication
such as incorrect instructionsmissing textformatting problemsalignment
problemsThese are all errors that may escape during the writing and editing
process. Proofreading is when we catch them.
A perfect final copy of The Future of English Education in Japan
Now, you have finished The Future of English Education in Japan. The document has been written, edited, proofread, and published. You have successfully communicated your message to the world of English education in Japan. Your paper was accepted as your thesis for your Master of Arts. You completed your degree. Some of your suggestions have even been implemented. You are very pleased.
Congratulations!
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Vocabulary building
Being a good writer requires building your vocabulary. Studying vocabulary books may teach you new words, but limited context is provided. Reading is necessary to obtain that context, learning new words and how they are used. Yes, we have written before about reading. If we were to emphasize the most important way to study to improve your writing with a one word statement, we would say read.
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