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Editing Made Easy (E-Book Edition): Simple Rules for Effective Writing
A friendly, practical guide for writers, students,
business executives, bloggers, Web developers—
and anyone else who wants to write well. Based on the author's earlier best-selling book, published in his native Australia, which has become a best-selling standard resource for writers and journalists. This edition is expanded and revised to accommodate the rules and spellings common in U.S. English.
139 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2001
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91 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
January 24, 2018
This'll be a quick little review for a quick little book!
Editing Made Easy actually makes editing easy. It doesn't waffle (note to self: don't review books when hungry) and gets straight to the point, each of which is only one page long, two at most. If you want a no-nonsense approach to proofreading, here you go!
It covers all the basics you need to know, and gives examples in case you're not sure about any of the issues covered.
Because it's so short (I've read novellas longer than this book) it's easy to come back to if you ever need to look anything up as you edit. AND it takes up no space on your shelf! You can totally slide this between two hardbacks and you'd probably lose it that way, actually, don't do that. But it is tiny, so not having any more room on your shelf is no excuse here.
There's a checklist at the end so you can work your way through when you edit. Kaplan couldn't make it easier!
It won't help much with developmental edits or line edits, however. It focuses on the proofread, and it's an excellent companion for that.
If you hate proofreading your own book or struggle with any part of that process, this is an easy recommendation (and a smol addition to your shelf).
Editing Made Easy actually makes editing easy. It doesn't waffle (note to self: don't review books when hungry) and gets straight to the point, each of which is only one page long, two at most. If you want a no-nonsense approach to proofreading, here you go!
It covers all the basics you need to know, and gives examples in case you're not sure about any of the issues covered.
Because it's so short (I've read novellas longer than this book) it's easy to come back to if you ever need to look anything up as you edit. AND it takes up no space on your shelf! You can totally slide this between two hardbacks and you'd probably lose it that way, actually, don't do that. But it is tiny, so not having any more room on your shelf is no excuse here.
There's a checklist at the end so you can work your way through when you edit. Kaplan couldn't make it easier!
It won't help much with developmental edits or line edits, however. It focuses on the proofread, and it's an excellent companion for that.
If you hate proofreading your own book or struggle with any part of that process, this is an easy recommendation (and a smol addition to your shelf).
November 18, 2021
This book was a nice read for anyone wanting to learn how to edit. It was short, and to the point.
It wasn't exhaustive, but it did hit the simple things that a writer can do to make their work better. It didn't really touch on editing the big picture of your story, article, etc.
Instead, it was mainly discussing the nitty gritty of editing. Although a few of the chapters dealt mainly with editing/writing newspaper articles, I still found it helpful for what I needed it for.
It wasn't exhaustive, but it did hit the simple things that a writer can do to make their work better. It didn't really touch on editing the big picture of your story, article, etc.
Instead, it was mainly discussing the nitty gritty of editing. Although a few of the chapters dealt mainly with editing/writing newspaper articles, I still found it helpful for what I needed it for.
December 6, 2018
In Editing Made Easy, Bruce Kaplan presents short, simple chapters covering various aspects of both editing and writing, often in point form, making it easy to get an overview of the field. Common traps for the unwary include cliches, unnecessary words and expressions, overlong sentences, misplaced phrases, common spelling errors, grammatical difficulties and punctuation. Definitely not for the experienced editor - or writer, for that matter - but a good introduction. Needs to be supplemented with more detailed reading.
May 31, 2025
I read this book a little each day and then applied the tips I covered to my daily writing. I definitely found clarification of punctuation, grammar, style, and word choice issues I have questioned for years - as a matter of fact, this sentence is an example! But I hope I can entice you to read the book and find out which tip it exemplifies.
The author, Bruce Kaplan, included some tips I thought worthy of a billboard - for instance, that an apostrophe is not needed when a numerical year describes a decade (1970s), and one is needed in place of missing numbers if you refer to it as the ‘70s. I know I probably should have put quotation marks around my examples to be correct. I left them out so I wouldn’t confuse anyone and you’ll be able to find the unaltered tip in the book!
I read tons of writing books, trying to improve my writing. They take up two shelves at this point - and that is the pared-down version! It always amazes me that, even though we now have an infinite number of automated tools for writing, including AI (which, at this point, I think “regurgitates” more than writes; people still do it better), the fine-tuning of editing continues to be a process that is best created within the complexity of a human being. It makes sense if you know about the way the brain functions, yet I’m not just referring to the brain. I’m thinking of the way every completely unique person’s entire body functions and moves within the world. Since experiences, intuition, senses, and emotions are applied, not just language, rules, and logic, I personally think writing will never be well-done by technology. Technology has the capability to compile all the references I have on my shelves, but using them with all the riches only people can bring to written communication is (haha) another story.
That’s why I consider reading and keeping books like this important. They address the mistakes that are missed by AI, along with people, the ones that are disguised as things that are correct; there are probably some within this review! Those resources help us with the repeated polishing that has to be done before good writing shines. It helps us address the nebulous nuances.
Some things that might be useful to know about this book:
1) Mr. Kaplan seems to come from more of a factual writing perspective. He says to avoid exclamation points and slang except in dialogue, for example. Even though I think that’s excellent advice in many cases, I’m working on writing children’s books for which I consider slang and exclamation points appropriate sometimes.
To thine own genre be true. Avoid doesn’t mean never and I bet Mr. Kaplan would appreciate a writer’s thoughtful exceptions.
2) I love the humor in the book. There were times I laughed out loud about his points and examples. That also makes them memorable.
3) I got a lot out of the way Mr. Kaplan demonstrated the problem for each of his tips, then wrote about the solution with examples of what the errors look like correct. Sometimes, though, I lost focus before the introduction got to the resolution. For impatient people like me, a “Problem” and “Solution” format would be easier to use.
4) Mr. Kaplan does do a great job of keeping his tips short to begin with. The information he provides is easy to understand and use.
I actually experienced it changing my writing as I created this review. Definitely a keeper! << See how handy those exclamation points are?! I sincerely recommend it!
The author, Bruce Kaplan, included some tips I thought worthy of a billboard - for instance, that an apostrophe is not needed when a numerical year describes a decade (1970s), and one is needed in place of missing numbers if you refer to it as the ‘70s. I know I probably should have put quotation marks around my examples to be correct. I left them out so I wouldn’t confuse anyone and you’ll be able to find the unaltered tip in the book!
I read tons of writing books, trying to improve my writing. They take up two shelves at this point - and that is the pared-down version! It always amazes me that, even though we now have an infinite number of automated tools for writing, including AI (which, at this point, I think “regurgitates” more than writes; people still do it better), the fine-tuning of editing continues to be a process that is best created within the complexity of a human being. It makes sense if you know about the way the brain functions, yet I’m not just referring to the brain. I’m thinking of the way every completely unique person’s entire body functions and moves within the world. Since experiences, intuition, senses, and emotions are applied, not just language, rules, and logic, I personally think writing will never be well-done by technology. Technology has the capability to compile all the references I have on my shelves, but using them with all the riches only people can bring to written communication is (haha) another story.
That’s why I consider reading and keeping books like this important. They address the mistakes that are missed by AI, along with people, the ones that are disguised as things that are correct; there are probably some within this review! Those resources help us with the repeated polishing that has to be done before good writing shines. It helps us address the nebulous nuances.
Some things that might be useful to know about this book:
1) Mr. Kaplan seems to come from more of a factual writing perspective. He says to avoid exclamation points and slang except in dialogue, for example. Even though I think that’s excellent advice in many cases, I’m working on writing children’s books for which I consider slang and exclamation points appropriate sometimes.
To thine own genre be true. Avoid doesn’t mean never and I bet Mr. Kaplan would appreciate a writer’s thoughtful exceptions.
2) I love the humor in the book. There were times I laughed out loud about his points and examples. That also makes them memorable.
3) I got a lot out of the way Mr. Kaplan demonstrated the problem for each of his tips, then wrote about the solution with examples of what the errors look like correct. Sometimes, though, I lost focus before the introduction got to the resolution. For impatient people like me, a “Problem” and “Solution” format would be easier to use.
4) Mr. Kaplan does do a great job of keeping his tips short to begin with. The information he provides is easy to understand and use.
I actually experienced it changing my writing as I created this review. Definitely a keeper! << See how handy those exclamation points are?! I sincerely recommend it!
March 20, 2018
A pretty quick recap of every middle school and high school grammar lesson. I appreciated the many examples, but there weren't many tips on making the editing process easier/faster. Just general rules. Also, I found a few spelling/grammar mistakes, so...
January 7, 2019
I like this book a lot better than The Elements of Style, especially for anyone newer to writing or grammar. This book is a solid reference because it is easy to read and understand as the tile suggests.
February 4, 2019
Good book to get started, especially when self-editing. Several good checklists are helpful. Good for beginners or those who want to make a first run at editing before turning a manuscript over to a professional editor.
February 6, 2023
I checked this book out from my local library and found it to be invaluable. I now have it on my to-purchase ASAP list. The author of this book breaks down all aspects of editing into bite-sized pieces of information that are easy to understand and put to use. It was a fun read as well.
March 26, 2021
Some good tips, a lot of what seemed like personal biases. Doesn't hold up for today's writers.
January 10, 2024
Easy read. Very helpful reminders for professional writing. I picked this up when I started my writing for college admissions.
January 12, 2025
Good and short book. More for copy-editing than developmental.
July 2, 2010
This book was definitely educational, although not in the way I'd normally use the term for a non-fiction book.
I didn't realise, for example that there were still writing experts around who railed at the use of split infinitives ("to boldly go" or "to really understand"), or at putting a preposition at the end of a sentence ("the kind of thing I'm sick of putting up with"). Nor who demanded that people get over their fear of repeating words within sentences to avoid using prepositions because they might cause confusion despite being obvious through context (apparently in "the cat ate from the bowl because it was hungry", we might think the bowl was hungry, and we should therefore write "The cat ate from the bowl because the cat was hungry")
Since I left school, almost EVERY writing course and writing author I've read has agreed on one thing about grammar: where rules and conventions make things clearer and easier to understand, use them, but where they don't, don't follow them unthinkingly. And if they confuse and alienate your audience because they force you to use sentence structures that your reader doesn't use, then for the love of the gods, write for your reader!
Mr Kaplan actually acknowledges that not everyone thinks as he does. He comments, for example, the well-publicised fact that the split infinitive was invented as a rule in English because in Latin, the way words are structured (i.e. an infinitive is a single word) makes it impossible to split. However, his reaction to this is that "to argue that we should not worry about the split infinitive because the taboo comes from Latin is to argue that we should throw out many basic rules of English grammar". Really, Mr Kaplan? I rather think the argument is actually that we should throw it out "it comes from Latin and serves no practical purpose in making meaning clearer in English"... and if that's the case, I'm similarly happy to throw out other basic rules - at least if they do nothing but confuse, rather than clarify.
Don't get me wrong, I don't disagree with everything in the book. Writing in the active voice, rather than the passive, for example, is all good. It shortens sentences, and makes them more alive. Or how about keeping sentences (for the most part) short? That's all good too, although varying length a little between sentences is never a bad thing either.
Unfortunately, a vast number of the rewritten sentences Mr Kaplan offers beyond this strike me as far more colourless and lifeless than the originals he cites. They'd be suitable for a pure-news newspaper article (which I believe is indeed his background), but they're not suitable for a web writer, a marketer, or anyone else who actually wants to connect with their readers.
For all of these reasons, I've given Editing Made Easy a 5/10. To my thinking, there's nothing beneficial in here that isn't also in The Oxford Guide to Plain English, by Martin Cutts - and "Plain English" is a far more readable, sensible guide to writing well that's far better explained.
I didn't realise, for example that there were still writing experts around who railed at the use of split infinitives ("to boldly go" or "to really understand"), or at putting a preposition at the end of a sentence ("the kind of thing I'm sick of putting up with"). Nor who demanded that people get over their fear of repeating words within sentences to avoid using prepositions because they might cause confusion despite being obvious through context (apparently in "the cat ate from the bowl because it was hungry", we might think the bowl was hungry, and we should therefore write "The cat ate from the bowl because the cat was hungry")
Since I left school, almost EVERY writing course and writing author I've read has agreed on one thing about grammar: where rules and conventions make things clearer and easier to understand, use them, but where they don't, don't follow them unthinkingly. And if they confuse and alienate your audience because they force you to use sentence structures that your reader doesn't use, then for the love of the gods, write for your reader!
Mr Kaplan actually acknowledges that not everyone thinks as he does. He comments, for example, the well-publicised fact that the split infinitive was invented as a rule in English because in Latin, the way words are structured (i.e. an infinitive is a single word) makes it impossible to split. However, his reaction to this is that "to argue that we should not worry about the split infinitive because the taboo comes from Latin is to argue that we should throw out many basic rules of English grammar". Really, Mr Kaplan? I rather think the argument is actually that we should throw it out "it comes from Latin and serves no practical purpose in making meaning clearer in English"... and if that's the case, I'm similarly happy to throw out other basic rules - at least if they do nothing but confuse, rather than clarify.
Don't get me wrong, I don't disagree with everything in the book. Writing in the active voice, rather than the passive, for example, is all good. It shortens sentences, and makes them more alive. Or how about keeping sentences (for the most part) short? That's all good too, although varying length a little between sentences is never a bad thing either.
Unfortunately, a vast number of the rewritten sentences Mr Kaplan offers beyond this strike me as far more colourless and lifeless than the originals he cites. They'd be suitable for a pure-news newspaper article (which I believe is indeed his background), but they're not suitable for a web writer, a marketer, or anyone else who actually wants to connect with their readers.
For all of these reasons, I've given Editing Made Easy a 5/10. To my thinking, there's nothing beneficial in here that isn't also in The Oxford Guide to Plain English, by Martin Cutts - and "Plain English" is a far more readable, sensible guide to writing well that's far better explained.
February 8, 2016
This was ok. Between 3-4 stars out of 5. This book has one of the best chapters on the use of "only" in a sentence. The book had a spelling error, which is not a good thing for an editing book, and seems to go against the authors advice at the end of the book to read the copy again "first for sense, then for spelling and grammatical errors" (p.104).
The chapter on the use of "that" left me with questions. It's one thing to say don't use "that" in a sentence and drop it; but to not explain why puzzles me. It's a serious editorial question I have. The reason given was that it slowed the pace (or should I have written "The reason was it slowed the pace"). I need to know when it is grammatically necessary to use "that" in a sentence and when it is not.
Overall, the book was helpful, and humorous ocassionally. I was underwhelmed by the end.
The chapter on the use of "that" left me with questions. It's one thing to say don't use "that" in a sentence and drop it; but to not explain why puzzles me. It's a serious editorial question I have. The reason given was that it slowed the pace (or should I have written "The reason was it slowed the pace"). I need to know when it is grammatically necessary to use "that" in a sentence and when it is not.
Overall, the book was helpful, and humorous ocassionally. I was underwhelmed by the end.
October 5, 2010
I’m unsure how to go about reviewing a nonfiction book, so I’ll keep this short and sweet.
Not a bad little book for beginners. Small in size and easy to transport with a notebook or inside a bag. Editing made easy, offers advice on the dreaded E word and tips to help you blossom as a writer. Most of what I read was easy to understand however, the comma section was small and dealt only with a small area. For a writer at the shallow end this didn’t help me.
Editing made easy is aimed mainly at writers who wish to write articles for news papers and does little to help writers outside this region of writing.
A handy little book for any writers book shelf but not as helpful as one would think.
Not a bad little book for beginners. Small in size and easy to transport with a notebook or inside a bag. Editing made easy, offers advice on the dreaded E word and tips to help you blossom as a writer. Most of what I read was easy to understand however, the comma section was small and dealt only with a small area. For a writer at the shallow end this didn’t help me.
Editing made easy is aimed mainly at writers who wish to write articles for news papers and does little to help writers outside this region of writing.
A handy little book for any writers book shelf but not as helpful as one would think.
December 10, 2012
This book is clear, concise, and readable;everything a help book, or any other writing, should be.Mr. Kaplan does not try to present one style of writing as the best, rather, he helps you use your own style at it's best. He separates conversational grammmar from written grammar clearly, while seeing the neeed for both in some book genres. He stresses the active voice as opposed to passive to light up your work. As a former writer of VA documents, I can attest to the tedium of the passive voice. I think Editing Made Easy is a must-have for new, as well as, experienced writers and editors in all genres. Whether you are a novelist or the club bulletin editor, this book will make your writing better.
July 20, 2022
This book is a great review of all the basic grammar and editing rules. It helped me when I first started to tackle understanding editing, and it remains a useful and straightforward guide when I want to quickly review a grammar concept. This is not an in-depth or comprehensive guide to grammar, but a great way to ease into the often overwhelming subject. I highly recommend it to anyone new to writing and editing or anyone interested in a clear and concise guide to grammar.
December 11, 2016
Entertaining and educational book, with a caveat that not every rule the author mentions is in fact fixed in stone. Language is evolving, and many words and phrases that the author considers 'cliche' or wrong ways of writing things, are in fact quite accepted today.
Nevertheless, the few hours it took me to read the book were well worth spending.
Nevertheless, the few hours it took me to read the book were well worth spending.
August 31, 2013
This is a simple guide to punctuation and sentence structure. I found it helpful, although, I think it is geared towards newspaper and magazine editing. It doesn't cover everything (such as editing marks) but it is useful for those who want to brush up on basic rules of writing.
November 18, 2012
Short and sweet.
July 16, 2013
Good concise review.
September 6, 2016
A very useful book, both for writers and editors. Not the most interesting read, though.
January 29, 2015
This is an essential resource for writers and editors. Keep a copy of this nearby when writing and editing.
March 18, 2015
A very useful book, both for writers and editors. Not the most interesting read, though.
May 18, 2015
Great book for writers and editors - very to the point. If you need a quick hand with the basics, this is the book for you.
October 28, 2015
I found it very easy to follow as well as enlightening on my own writing tendencies.
November 12, 2015
Easy to read and very informative.
December 24, 2015
Aimed at reporters and such. I write fiction, so this short book didn't help me much. There were a few sections that provided some good refresher material. Would recommend for students.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews