I'm excited to share the secret to editing your own writing like a professional today. As a total word nerd, I’m mortified when a typo makes it onto the internet on my watch. And while I do notice others’ typos and grammatical slips, I tend not to judge them as harshly as I judge myself. I might be on my own there though – I see people all the time who proudly declare that, not only do they judge these mistakes, they will promptly unfollow at the first hint of trouble.

It’s a harsh truth that too many of these errors can lead your readers to unfairly judge your hard work as slapdash and unprofessional. Hours of thoughtful work can be undone in an instant. (See what I did there?)

In this world of superfast upload-now-get-it-done-get-it-out-there, the odds on mistakes sneaking through are high. And nobody likes to edit their own work. But it doesn’t have to be a painful or drawn-out process and, if done carefully, some simple tricks can improve the chances that you catch that pesky misplaced comma before your readers do.

1//Step away from the screen

The first secret to editing your own writing like a professional is to make time.  The more time you can have between writing and editing, the better. Fresh eyes are more likely to catch mistakes, plus if you have some space you won’t remember exactly what you wrote at the time – there’s a funny trick which means that if you’re anticipating content in your mind as you read, you might miss a glaring mistake right in front of your eyes. A day or more is excellent, but if you’re pressed for time at least work on an entirely different task for a little while before coming back to edit.

2//Two or three is best

If you have the time for it, do a few rounds of edits with some clear air in between each one, in a couple of different formats if you can.

3//Change it up

Changing the way you look at the writing helps to bring some freshness as well. I really love to edit on paper so I can draw all over it, but I know that’s not always possible (or environmentally-friendly). Changing the font and/or size of the writing are effective ways to mix it up a little bit. As well as refreshing your eyeballs, it also moves the words on the page – shifting line breaks and that kind of thing – which can bring fresh perspective. Even going from your WordPress editor to previewing the post on your blog can be enough for those typos to jump out.

4//See it and say it

Reading the words aloud will give you an idea of the readability of your post. For example, it’s common to add in commas as you pause in your typing. Commas indicate a break in the flow of the words, and if you have too many it will make your writing jolting. Speaking the words will alert you to the flow and pace of your writing, including if there are too many pauses or any odd-sounding phrases.

5//Know your weaknesses

As with too many commas, we all have our quirks when it comes to writing. I start lots of sentences with ‘and,’ which can be fine in a conversational piece until I start every sentence with it – then my quirky device sounds clunky and repetitive.

Some common things to keep an eye out for include:

• Over punctuation (too many commas!)
• Repetition of words or phrases
• Use or overuse of ‘very’ and ‘really.’ If you want emphasis, try different words.
• Statements like ‘I think.’ Blogs are very personal, so it feels natural to include ‘I believe’ statements. But we know it’s your opinion because you wrote it. Let it stand firmly on its own!

The main thing to remember when you’re editing is that you want to polish the writing without overthinking it. Look out for readability, flow, and clarity of your main points. But don’t get all up in your head about it, because then you’ll be doing a (completely unnecessary) panicked re-write.

** Yes, it bothers me immensely that this article uses ‘sweat' as a past-tense verb.  I know you were wondering 😉

 

Tahlia is a virtual assistant, copyeditor, and lifestyle blogger who is all about making life easier so there's space to make life awesome-er.  When she's not helping her clients kick butt in their businesses, you'll find her dreaming of the day Ikea and Kikk-K have a store-baby she can move into.