As a freelance copywriter, I find myself editing my work and my clients’ work almost every day. I have strict rules for the editing process that I almost always follow.

1. Always print things out.
   I stare at the computer screen for hours every day. Hours. Like 10? 14? It’s horrible. Thus, it’s tough to really see errors on the screen. I use the second side of recycled paper and use a custom print setting that I call “Cheap” for the hard copies, thus minimizing both ink and paper use. (The “Cheap” setting is fast draft version in gray scale.)
2. Edit in natural light.
   When I worked in an office, I’d leave the fluorescent lighting and sit at a picnic table outside, especially for big jobs. Or I’d go to the conference room with the big windows. Here in the office I have only natural light, but I like to take the editing outside because it’s a smidge dark in here.
3. Use a pen and a highlighter as I go through.
   If I just use a pen for edits, I can easily miss the reversal of a comma and a quotation mark, for example. I slash each change with a highlighter to make sure it stands out.
4. Track changes in MS Word.
   If I have extensive edits, I tend to view in Final mode instead of Final Showing Markup so it doesn’t get too ugly. But my clients should see what I’ve done unless it’s a first draft. If I forget, I usually run a compare documents merge and send the combined doc that shows all the changes.
5. Check off each and every change.
   I cannot tell you the frustration I’ve had with vendors who receive a list of changes and do 90 or 75 percent of them. It takes twice as long to make sure all the changes were implemented, and you never trust the vendor again, so it’s like that every time. I use a second highlighter to mark each change as I make it.
6. Save documents as different versions.
   I know I should use the versioning features of MS Word, but I generally just save the doc as something like Membership_brochure.bz.doc. My clients will usually come back with their own changes and add their initials, such as Membership_brochure.bz.rc.doc. This helps us figure out who did the last version.
7. Don’t save the last version as docname_final.doc.
   The last version is usually what is used, and I always find it a little unprofessional when I download a document called Membership_brochure_FINAL.pdf from a website.
8. Know the standard proofreading symbols.
   You should know the standard symbols that proofreaders use. Most of my clients know them, and it helps tremendously when they fax me a marked-up version.