10 TIPS FOR EDITING YOUR OWN WRITING

If you write for a living, you must be well aware of the fact that most of the times, the first drafts are hardly readable. Before publishing or sending it forward, your work has to be thoroughly revised, proofread and edited. However, many of us do not have the luxury of appointing a professional editor for reviewing and editing our own work. So, the burden falls on you.

Now, we know that you have put so much efforts and time into your piece of writing already. But for making your blog post, article or manuscript stand out, you must edit it carefully. Here are 10 tips for editing writing yourself in an effective manner.

1. Take A Break Before You Begin Editing

Before you start proofreading and editing, let your piece of work sit for some time. Freshen up your mind by going on a long walk or playing with your cat for a while. Consider editing a separate and equally important part of your work. Writing experts agree on the fact that mistakes are more likely to be spotted if you let your mind relax after finishing your piece.

2. Don’t Rely Completely On Spellcheck Or Autocorrect

Relying too much on spellcheck is never a good idea. Sometimes, we tend to use the wrong homophones while typing. Using “bare” instead “bear”, “there” in place of “they’re” are a few silly mistakes that your word processor may not be able to detect.

If you have time constraints, you can seek help online to edit your article. Websites like https://edubirdie.com/edit-my-paper are a great means to enhance your piece of writing through the help of professional writers and editors.

3. Read It Out Loud

Proofreading by reading your content out aloud can make the errors seem more apparent. Try to read at a moderate pace by following every line along your finger and eyes. This will enable you to spot the mistakes in the structure of your writing and the redundancy in the overall flow.

4. Don’t Use Too Long Sentences

Cut short your long sentences to avoid monotony. Studies show that readers are more likely to lose interest if you use excessively long and comma-heavy sentences. Break it into parts, dedicating separate sentence for every idea.

5. Pay Attention To Punctuations

A comma put at a wrong place can change the entire meaning of your sentence. The same goes for missing important punctuation. To produce strong content, be wary of your usage of punctuations. However, an article littered with too many commas messes up the flow of writing.

6. Restrict To One Voice

Many times your piece may require you to incorporate more than one voice in your writing. But avoid moving back and forth between different voices, as it can be a bit confusing for readers.

7. Take A Print Out

Editing your piece of writing from a printed document can help you catch errors in a better way than doing it by staring at your monitor.

8. Avoid The Passive Tone of Voice

Using passive voice is not wrong, yet many writers avoid the usage of the same to make their writing more clear, compelling and interesting.

9. Ditch The Excess

Try omitting extra information that you think your article would be better off without. Make sure whatever you have written is conveying the exact meaning of your title.

10. Learn From Your Mistakes

Lastly, remember that it’s okay to make mistakes. Learn from them, evolve and move on.