Self-editing

Self-editing makes a BIG difference to the final version of our write-ups! 

I was marking individual assignments by students last Friday. As I was reading them, I was mentally classifying them into two categories; self-edited versus not self-edited. For those students who have self-edited their write-ups, reading their work is a PLEASURE :) For those who have not self-edited, reading their work is a TORTURE, as I kept picking up typo-mistakes like two words stick together, mispell some words, glaring grammar mistakes etc. When distracted by unnecessary glaring mistakes due to lack of "editing" effort, I could hardly enjoy the content. So ladies and gentlemen, be good to your lecturers by having a few rounds of self-editing (or get friends to proof-read) before submitting written assignments, good for your grade!

Before researchers/lecturers submit their work for publication, they perform at least 20 times of self-editing. And this is followed by a few rounds of "editing" according to Reviewers' comments, then only the near-perfect piece of work is allowed to appear on academic journals.

So you are not alone, lecturers do self-editing and peer proof reading too! It is a required process for any written work to look good as we tend to overlook our own mistakes the first time we read it :) We only able to pick up typo mistakes on second or third readings! On fourth reading, we are able to re-structure our ideas to make the flow more interesting! On fifth reading, we check on overall format and references!

Writing is a skill, everyone can master it given the effort and training!