How to edit articles

This article, by a native English writer, explains how to edit an article which has been written by a non-native English writer, it shows the original style of writing which was used in the article and the writing style after it has been edited.

Original article by non-native English writer

`Alfa Romeo Spider - how does it drive?
`If we’re to judge by the previous experiences with Alfa Romeo, it’s likely I’ll see you a lot in my workshop. If we use the 159 as reference, I might not. Why don’t we flip a coin on it?
Let’s look at it this way.
If we were talking about a bad looking car that also drove horribly, its ugliness would have probably annoyed me less then its performance. But since this car is so good looking, I am terribly disturbed with how lousy it drives. In fact, maybe it doesn’t run that badly, but – to be honest – the feeling that it runs worse than it looks, well, this raises doubts in me.
The issue is even stranger considering Alfa Romeo’s hit its competitors where it hurts the most with the 159. However, Spider has the looks of an experiment from the very beginning, in a world where technology makes progress every day. I need not see, as I know very well how close to my head hovers the scimitar of the Alfa lovers. But I can’t stop myself. Let me explain.
The V6 engine is a dream as far as I can tell. 256bhp at 6.300 rpm cannot be unattractive, especially when the torque is absolutely stunning – 237lbft at 4.500 rpm. But the rest of the car sadly fades away in contrast with the shape of the body and the engine. The absence of a hardtop affects the rigidity of the body, the clutch is too long, the gear box seems tuned for anything else but a sporty car, so I’d better restrain myself from jumping to a definite conclusion in this matter called Alfa Romeo Spider. I rely on the obvious to shed more light. As a plus (to these arguments, I mean), acceleration to 63mph takes 7 seconds.’
CAPTION
Dear, the gearshift lever is a little to the left…

Article after editing by native English writer

The first problem is the sentence: `If we’re to judge by the previous experiences with Alfa Romeo’. This whole sentence is very clumsy, especially the phrase `the previous experience’. Whose previous experience?  It would be better to write:`past experiences.’
The sentence: `it’s likely I’ll see you a lot’ etc. would be better written as `I’ll probably see you a lot’ etc. The sentence: `if we use the 159 as reference’ would be better if it were re-written:`using the 159 as a benchmark’.
The sentence : `If we were talking about a bad looking car that also drove horribly, its ugliness would have probably annoyed me less then its performance’ is so convoluted that it’s difficult to understand what he is trying to say.
But it could be interpreted like this: `If it was a badly-designed car that was also a nightmare to drive I wouldn’t be too concerned about its bad design - I would be more concerned about the nightmarish way that it drives. But this isn’t a badly-designed car - it’s actually a pretty good design.’
The last sentence: `Dear, the gearshift lever is a little to the left…’ is the caption for a photograph. It’s ok apart from the `Dear’. As you’ll be aware, this is usually used to address someone who is very close to someone - a man and wife might use it, for example. But here it’s been used to address just about everyone.
It’s also potentially embarrassing because the original writer is a male, and he is addressing other males.
I could continue, but these examples should suffice. 
My main advice to a native English writer and speaker who has to edit articles which have been written by a non-native English writer is this:think colloqually; look at the sentences in the original article and decide how you would speak these sentences. Then translate this colloqual English into written English.