My Editing Experience

When I was told that I had to some editing for two 101 students I was really worried.  Even though I have noticed that my writing skills have improved since ENG 101, I still feel like I’m not a strong writer.  I thought “how am I supposed to edit a person’s paper when I’m not a good writer myself”.  As I started reading the blogs that I was assigned to do, I was really into them.  I found them very interesting and could tell they did some research.  I also learned a few stuff, for example I learned about core self and that one should approach a situation with a positive emotions then the outcome will perhaps be good.  When I started writing the feedback I was scared.  I didn’t want to write anything that might offend the person who wrote the blog or write a comment that sound like an accusation.  I wanted to be helpful but not hurt the person’s feelings.  I tried to look for things that make me think “I like this” or “this is well done”, because I didn’t want to just point to things that they did wrong because they put great effort on their writing.  Then I try to just point to things that I thought they need to work on.  When I wrote a suggestion on what they need to work on, I tried to start with “I think” just because I thought it sounded nicer and I also added smiley facesJ.

    After editing the two blogs I learned that I should work more on my paper.  I usually write a paper and put it away for a few days and then I read it again with fresher, more critical eyes.  I learned that I don’t always have to do that.  I should proof read my work because I usually make common mistakes.  Also, I’m horrible when it comes to grammar but when reading over my draft, if anything makes me stop and go back or if I don’t immediately understand means I should revise it.  Basically I should be able to tell if my paper reads smoothly and easy to understand.  In addition, I will try to make sure I don’t repeat myself in my paper. Furthermore, I find my introduction and conclusion interesting but I think I might have to work on them.  I am also going to look at the quotes I used.  I think I should take some out or introduce them better.  The most important thing I learned though is that when I proof read I should print out a hard copy and not to proofread on the computer screen.