How to Edit Your Own Writing
The editing process is essential to good writing. But many entrepreneurs skip editing altogether. They’re either pressed for time to get that email sent or blog published quickly, or — heaven forbid — they’re just plain lazy!
Why It’s Important to Edit
- It’s less than impressive to receive written material from a respected author only to find it riddled with typos!
- You want to send out clean, professional writing void of typos, grammatical faux pas, and punctuation errors.
- The editing process makes you a better writer.
- When others find blatant errors in your writing it’s like finding a hair in their salad — it ruins the whole meal!
Here’s What Editing Entails:
- Checking grammar, spelling, syntax, and sentence structure (proofing)
- Assessing the development, flow and logic of the work
- Assuring the accuracy of the content whenever possible
- Offering corrections, changes, and suggestions that you can accept, reject, or modify
From that list, you can see that editing is no small task. It requires considerable knowledge and experience as a writer, plus an eye for mistakes, subtle nuances, and the ability to get into the writer’s head. If you’re looking at editing your own work, it may be harder than you think, but it is possible to do well, and it can save you some money.
Pros and Cons with Hiring a Good Editor
Without a doubt, hiring a good editor can improve the quality of your writing. There’s nothing like having a second pair of eyes to scrutinize your work. They’ll catch things you didn’t see and perhaps add that extra special “sauce” that really enhances your writing.
But there are also a few risks with hiring an editor:
- How much skin do they have in the game?
- To what extent will they edit in your voice?
- How well do they understand your audience?
- What if you don’t agree with them?
Frankly, some writers absolutely need an editor. Editing is either not part of their skillset, or their time is too valuable and hiring an editor makes good business sense.
But if you’re someone who either can’t afford an editor, or you’d like to learn how to edit your own work and improve your writing skills, here are some practical tips.
How to Edit Your Own Writing
1. Separate the editing process from the writing process.
You might argue that you’re already editing as you write, so why would you need to separate those processes? To some extent it is true that we all perform some editing as we write. However, the two skills — writing and editing — are quite different. While writing is chiefly a creative process, editing is evaluative.
Remember the rules of good brainstorming? You never mix evaluation with the generation of free-flowing ideas. The same is true with writing and editing. So, after you’ve written a piece, you want to “put on a different hat” as an editor to examine your work.
2. Check for typos, grammatical errors, and misplaced punctuation.
In the editing process, read through your work at least twice. This first time through you’re looking for technical writing issues and problems. You will do a better job of editing if you separate this process from those in your second read-through.
In order to perform this part of the editing process well, you’ll want to have some resources at hand for reference. For instance, do you know the difference between “affect” and “effect”? Or how about when to use “further” as opposed to “farther”? How about the proper placement of commas, or where to place punctuation with respect to quotation marks? Also check agreement between verbs and their nouns.
All these represent issues you may need some help with. Please see the list of reference materials below.
3. Assess the development, flow and logic.
On your second time through the document, put on the hat of a reader. How does the document flow? How well is the topic developed? Is it logical and easy to follow?
In this read-through, also look for superfluous words or phrases that you can eliminate. Simplify to the extent possible. Split lengthy, difficult-to-read sentences into two or more sentences. Keep an eye out for passive voice and seek to make those sentences active instead. Is the use of pronouns consistent throughout? Did you use terminology that the reader will understand?
4. Don’t trust an online grammar tool!
Whether it’s the built-in application in Word, or a separate tool like Hemmingway, don’t trust grammar applications on your computer. These applications are designed using algorithms that cannot possibly detect all the nuances of writing. They may be helpful for catching a common typo or misplaced comma (sometimes), but often they are flat out wrong! Use your judgment and the reference books listed below. Also, trusting these tools indiscriminately makes you lazy!
5. But, don’t be a grammar Nazi!
I once made the mistake of hiring a high school English teacher to edit my writing. She was what I would call a “grammar Nazi.” Her view of the English language was one of strict rules with absolutely no wiggle room.
The truth of the matter is, all language is constantly in transition and doesn’t adhere to a strict set of rules. Our language is fluid and the grammatical rules and conventions for writing have changed and are changing. For instance, the current trend is to eliminate commas that were once thought necessary. Also, if you were taught to put two spaces between sentences when writing, that is now considered “old school” and only one space is preferred. The meanings of some words have changed too. So, use some common sense when editing.
Resources
Some great resources for improving both your writing and editing skills include:
- On Writing Well by William Zinsser. This is a classic guide that is as entertaining to read as it is helpful!
- The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White. This too is a class work that’s often simply referred to as “Strunk & White.”
- A Manual for Writers by Kate Turabian. This book contains an easy reference system for finding answers to your grammar and formatting questions.
- Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. While this work may seem like an unlikely title for your needs, it too offers some great help in proper formatting especially if you include quotations, footnotes, or bibliographies in any work.
- The Chicago Manual of Style. This is available both online and in book formats. This reference work is very similar to the previous two.
After using the above resources for a while, you’ll become more and more proficient and find that you need them less and less frequently.
Editing your own work is a big commitment but can also greatly improve your writing skills. Even if you choose to hire an editor at some point, you may want to try your hand at editing for a while simply to become a better writer.
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