If writing is essential to your job, you should edit your content. Grammar blunders, typos, and disjointed sentences affect how people perceive content quality and a brand. Editing tips are the best option to resolve all these things.
With so many content streams to manage, such as social channels, website copy, and ads, B2B companies can’t afford to hit the publish button without knowing content has a second line of editing tips defense. Furthermore, american books writer provides comprehensive services for all your editing needs.
Make a checklist to improve content editing and make it easier for anyone to contribute. A set sequence of steps for key writing must-haves within a finished piece, such as keyword count, spellcheck, and grammar review, ensures content accuracy and consistency.
It also helps to draft a basic manual that outlines and clarifies particular style preferences for goods and services. Such as the Oxford comma or brand-specific preferences for capitalization.
10 Editing Tips for Your Writing
Writing well does not happen the first time you sit down to write. Whether you’re looking for a low-cost editing option or want to do your editing, here are a few editing tips to help bring out your best writing:
1. Put It on a Paper
Spelling errors, sentence fragments, and run-ons are easier to spot when reading your writing aloud rather than trying to do so while staring at a bright computer screen. You can even alter the formatting of the text to help you see it from a different perspective. It would be best to track revisions or changes along the way by writing with a red pen or any other striking color.
2. Read Out Loud
You can listen for lines that don’t sound right. For instance, wishy-washy sentences, excessive use of certain phrases, and extraneous words can be aided by hearing how your writing sounds. Sometimes until a writer hears their work read aloud, they are unaware of their weak sentence structure or unclear main point. You can even use a text-to-speech program or ask someone else to read it while you jot down things you notice.
3. Maintain Your Active Voice
When writing in the active voice, the sentence’s subject is acting. A verb, the word that anchors all complete sentences, is used to describe that action. We did not entirely forbid passive voice in writing. Still, it’s generally a good idea to keep your tone lively because it encourages readers to keep reading.
Understanding the difference between active and passive voice will help you write strong, interesting prose that readers will like. Energetic voice, which indicates that the subject of your sentence is acting as the verb, is frequently advised by writing instructors to make your statement more direct and active.
The words used in the statements in the example below are the same. But the first is considerably more blunt and powerful than the second.
- He eats apples.
- Apples are eaten by him.
4. Line By Line Editing
An effective editor will go through a piece of writing line by line, and you should do the same. If you’re editing your work, you’ll need to carefully review the words you’ve written to find any lingering issues like grammatical mistakes or typos. Editing tips may take some time and be an uphill task.
5. Refresh Yourself
You are establishing an emotional separation between you and your writing project, taking a break from it for a while. Returning to it with fresh eyes can help you gain a new perspective. Give it some time if you have trouble remaining objective; you might come back to your writing with a completely different perspective.
6. Learn About Style Guides
A qualified copy editor will always adhere to a specific style manual depending on the project. They’ll ensure consistency throughout and help you become familiar with grammar rules as you self-edit.
For novels, the Chicago Manual of Style is frequently employed. However, copywriters and journalists frequently use the AP Stylebook. If you’re writing something novel, you might create a style guide detailing any special spelling and grammar requirements.
Consider this example:
He found a ten-year-old copy of The Harry Potter.
As a compound adjective, “ten-year-old” would be hyphenated in Chicago, and the book’s title would be italicized.
He found a ten-year-old copy of Harry Potter.
Only numbers up to nine are written out completely in AP, and it must enclose book titles in quotation marks.
He found a 10-year-old copy of “Harry Potter.”
7. Be Deliberate While Choosing Your Tenses And POVs
Determine which past or present tense is appropriate for your work and from whose perspective you are telling it. Many of your readers will become confused if you unintentionally jump between tenses and points of view. Naturally, you write some stories across several timeframes or perspectives on purpose; if this is the case with yours, be sure you’re using the right one at the appropriate time.
‘Tom is going to the cinema. He saw the new Brad Pitt film.’
‘Tom went to the cinema. He saw the new Brad Pitt film.’
Try mapping out your story in chronological order from the perspective of an omniscient narrator, and then figure out which parts will use each tense or point of view.
8. Welcome Re-Reading
When you believe you have completed your work, set it aside and take another break. This break can last anywhere between a few hours and several weeks. Go back and read it one last time when you’re ready.
With this unique perspective, you’re nearly certain to catch errors you didn’t the first time. When concentrating on some of the “larger picture” problems, you could find anything from spelling errors to chronological inconsistencies that you missed.
9. Stronger Verbs In Place Of The Adverbs
Another word category that frequently weakens your writing is the adverb. Stephen King advises against using them entirely in his memoir On Writing, contending that they are merely a temporary fix for when you can’t quite find the right verb. Instead, look for the ideal verb to give your writing more life.
We frequently overused adverbs in passages with lots of dialogue:
‘She said quietly’ = ‘she whispered.’
‘He said loudly’ = ‘he shouted.’
Of course, you don’t have to adhere strictly to King’s suggestions, but it still pays to scan your writing as you reread and edit it for “ly” words.
10. Obtain Proof From Someone Else
True objectivity is difficult to attain despite your best efforts to maintain a safe distance from your work. As the last step, asking a friend or member of your family to look it through is excellent. They’ll catch errors you missed and cast doubt on ideas that may have only made sense to the omniscient author. Furthermore, they’re probably going to give the criticism without being overly severe.
Conclusion
Whether you have an editing checklist to guide you, editing your work is difficult. It’s already a huge accomplishment to finish your first draft, so it can be difficult to acknowledge that something you’re so proud of isn’t perfect. A self-edit is a powerful way to begin the process and will ultimately improve your work. An editing tips checklist cannot replace a professional edit, but it can come close. Read this article and know how can you write editing and know how to resolve it.