Centre for Computational Physics

Even though I have written hundreds of research papers, dozens of articles, numerous book chapters and dozen books I still find it a challenge to write things so that they are free of errors. I enjoy the writing part but hate editing because it is so hard. However, editing is an essential skill which distinguishes excellent writers from the average ones. You may spend many more hours getting a piece of work right than writing it.

I use the following tips to help me edit work so that it is of a good standard.

1. When you are writing do not edit. This is hard to do because you always get tempted to go back and correct the sentence, the spellings, grammar and use alternative words. You may go back and delete whole sentences or paragraphs. You must resist the temptation to edit when you are writing. Keep writing at…