Category Archives: Editing

Write for your reader and audience

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It’s easy when writing a document or designing a powerpoint presentation to focus on what you want to tell the audience. This is a great start. But also think about what your likely reader or audience wants to know and hear.

Your aim is to communicate in a way that readers will remember because you have interested and engaged your audience.

What are your key messages? What do you want your reader or audience to do afterwards? Have you presented the information to make it easy for them to do this?

Consider these tips:

  • think about your content from the perspective of the audience
  • start with an example, fact or image to catch attention and introduce the topic
  • change the order of the content
  • use the right headings to structure and organise the content
  • use language at the right level for the audience
  • finish with ways to follow up, get more information and take action.

UPPER CASE versus lower case for headings

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UPPER CASE or full capitals means typing text, such as a heading, in capital letters. It is used to emphasise the text, but it can be harder to read than lower case text.

With UPPER CASE, all the letters are the same height. With lower case, there is more visual difference between the letters as some extend above the line, such as t and d, and some extend below the line, such as g and y. The greater differentiation between the letters in lower case makes it easier for readers to quickly recognise the letters and words – and the meaning of your message.

Compare these two formats:

  • PLEASE READ THIS VERY IMPORTANT AND LONG HEADING CAREFULLY
  • Please read this very important and long heading carefully

Headings in UPPER CASE can also be hard to read if they include acronyms, such as WHO for World Health Organisation, which usually stand out as acronyms in text because they are in UPPER CASE.

Make it as easy as possible for readers to get your message. Try to avoid using UPPER CASE, particularly for long headings.

Editing pages to avoid “widow” and “orphan” lines

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Editing a document for clear communication focuses on both the text and the layout of the text. What to look for in the page layout depends on the type and length of document.

For long, text-rich documents, be aware of “widows” and “orphans” which are lines of text separated by a page break from the rest of the paragraph they are in, making the text harder to read. A “widow” is a paragraph-ending line that appears at the top of the next page, at the end (death) of the paragraph. An “orphan” is a paragraph-opening line that appears at the bottom of a page, at the beginning (birth) of the paragraph.

“Widow” lines can be more distracting to readers than “orphans”, but both should be avoided. Turn on the “Widow/Orphan control” feature in Word under Format – Paragraph – Line and Page Breaks.

Other tips

  • split a long paragraph into two paragraphs if possible
  • rewrite the paragraph slightly to remove a “widow” line
  • insert a page break before an “orphan” line.

Look out for headings orphaned at the bottom of a page or with only a line or two of text under them. To make headings stand out, push them to the top of the next page. In formatting the style for headings, turn on the “Keep with next” feature in Word under Format – Paragraph – Line and Page Breaks.

When is the right time for editing

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The right time for editing depends on what type of editing you need. If you are paying for editing, you probably want to minimise the number of rounds of editing, while ensuring a high quality final product.

A document may need some or all of these major types of editing.

  • Structural editing, advising on structure, content and style to clearly communicate the right message to the right audience, can be done on early drafts of a document.
  • Copy editing, checking for consistency in format and style and correct spelling and grammar, can be done closer to the due date. If there are many changes suggested, several rounds of checking may be needed.
  • Proofreading, checking a manuscript against the “proof” or version to be printed, is done after the copy edited text and other items have been passed to a designer or printer for layout.

Here are some tips to consider:

  • Do as much as you can before passing your document to an editor.
  • Be clear about the type of editing you need.
  • Be realistic about the editing timeframe and allow time to make and check changes.
  • Remember, as noted in a previous post, changes made at the last minute can be more likely to have mistakes for several reasons. Best to avoid a major restructure or rewrite the night before the due date.

Creating a table of contents – the easy way

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After finishing a long document, no-one wants to type a table of contents and get all the headings and page numbers right manually. Create a table of contents the easy way by applying styles to each heading in your Word document and auto-generating the table of contents. Follow these steps.

  • To apply styles to headings in your Word file, go to the Format menu, then Style. Apply heading 1 style to the chapter or section heading, heading 2 to the first subheading, then heading 3 to the next level of heading. You can modify the styles to change the look.
  • To generate your table of contents, go to the Insert menu, then Index and Tables, then Table of Contents.
  • To change the look of your table of contents, modify TOC1 style for heading 1 and TOC2 for heading 2. For instance, you could make the headings bold or adjust the spacing.

Check the table of contents to see if the headings are consistent and complete. If you change the headings in the document or make other changes, simply regenerate and replace the table of contents.

Use the same method to generate a list of tables and a list of figures by applying heading styles to table headings and figure headings.

Knowing how to auto-generate a table of contents makes working on long documents easier.

Writing to a word limit

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The first step in writing to a word limit is to understand what is counted in the word limit – the abstract, references, tables and/or footnotes? Your software will count the words in your document. Turn on the word count feature so you can see the number of words as you type.

Before you start writing, divide the total word limit across the main sections of your work and allocate words to each section.

Being over the word limit is a more common problem than being under the limit. To reduce the number of words, consider these tips:

  • Reduce duplication
  • Say it once and remove repetition
  • Summarise material instead of using long direct quotes
  • Delete unnecessary detail
  • Use a plain English writing style
  • Combine sentences
  • Use single words instead of phrases
  • Use abbreviations if they are well known and accepted.

For very short word limits, think about your key message and write that as simply as possible. If you are just over the limit, look at every word to see if it is necessary for your message or could be deleted.

How to punctuate a list of dot points

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Lists of dot points are often used to break up paragraphs of text and present information clearly for readers. In keeping with the trend towards minimal punctuation, here are some tips to punctuate a list of short dot points:

  • use a colon at the end of the introducing sentence
  • use lower case to start each dot point
  • avoid any punctuation after each dot point
  • use a full stop at the end of the last point.

If each dot point is a complete sentence, you may punctuate the list differently by starting each point with a capital letter and ending with a full stop.

Your list will be easier to read if your dot points are structured the same way, such as starting each point with an active verb or using a consistent sentence style. Use a simple symbol for your dot points to avoid distracting readers from the text.

Are your headings helpful?

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Headings are important in all documents, but particularly in long documents. Headings convey the structure and content of a document, let readers know where to find content easily and communicate the relative importance of content.

Getting the hierarchy of headings right helps your readers. The hierarchy of headings means how many levels of headings there are and the format or style of each level of heading. A thesis might use chapter headings, section headings and sub-section headings, as well as headings for tables and figures and Appendices.

The format of each heading should reflect its importance or place in the hierarchy. The most important headings may be a bigger size, in bold, a different font, in capital letters and/or numbered, with more white space above and below them. Less important headings may only use one or two of these elements to stand out from the text.

Tips for helpful headings

  • Use the right number of words for the purpose: a helpful heading may be short or long.
  • Ensure the headings stand out from the text.
  • Avoid too many levels of numbered headings. Heading 2.4.3.2.1 followed by 2.4.3.2.2 may be just too much.
  • Use Styles in Word (Heading 1, Heading 2) to ensure consistent formatting of headings throughout a document.
  • Check the table of contents to see if all the headings work together.

Last minute changes – what to look out for

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You’ve been working on your document for ages. You are finally happy with it. You might even have had it edited by someone. Then you make some last minute changes.

Changes made at the last minute can be more likely to have mistakes for several reasons. You have not looked at these words as often as other parts of the document, and you may be making changes when you are tired, stressed or rushed.

Here’s what to look out for with last minute changes:

  • If you change a date or spelling in one part of the document, check you have changed all occurrences throughout the document.
  • If you re-arrange a sentence or a list, check the punctuation to ensure the full stop is not left out or duplicated.
  • If you add a dot point to a list, check it is in the same style as the rest of the list and has the right punctuation.
  • If you change a heading, check your capitalisation is consistent with other headings of the same level.
  • If you change the tense in a sentence, check all the verbs have been changed and are consistent.
  • If you change from plural to singular (or vice versa) in a sentence, check all verbs are consistent with the change.
  • If you add or delete a table or figure, check any cross-references and numbering are updated.
  • If you add an extra word, sentence or paragraph, check the spacing and pagination of the document. Does the text still fit? You may need to re-do the table of contents.

 

Communicate your message with text and more

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To communicate your message effectively in reports and presentations, consider using both text and non-text elements. Non-text elements can include graphics such as photos, drawings, diagrams or maps as well as tables.

If you want to break up a long text-heavy document with some images, make sure your images support or enhance your key message. A message can be undermined by poor choice of images. For instance, in a document to convey that a new transport project will improve the walking environment, use an image of people walking, not empty streets.

Think about how best to present your information clearly – text in paragraphs, lists of dot points or perhaps a table. A table may replace some text or complement the text.

Make sure any non-text elements are well-labelled and as properly identified and referenced as in-text references. Images may need the date and location in the captions, and tables often need explanatory footnotes.

The aim is for people to remember your message for the right reason, so think about what that is and use the most appropriate text and non-text elements to convey it.