How to edit your own writing
Editing and proofreading your own writing can be difficult. When you’ve spent hours toiling on a written piece, it's easy to miss a mistake or two. Typo blindness is a real thing.
But there are tips and tricks to editing your writing that will make the process easier. When you’ve finished writing your document, take a break. Step away from the story. Come back and edit with a refreshed brain.
The editing process
The finer points of your editing process will be different depending on what you are writing. The outcomes of writing an essay, a paper for university, a novel or your website copy are different. So you’ll need to look for different things when you’re editing. But the process should look a bit like this:
Finish your document.
Walk away. Have a cup of tea.
Read your draft document and make structural changes if needed.
Take another break. Have a biscuit.
Edit and proofread your final document.
Step two is where you should look for major issues that require big changes. Write a checklist of what you want to achieve: does your essay answer the question posed? Is your novel’s story arc strong? Does your web copy clearly explain what you do and why potential buyers should be interested?
Step five is your opportunity to fine-tune your writing work. Check that your tone of voice is appropriate for what you’re writing. If you’re not sure what tone of voice your written work should be in, look for similar examples. Read competitors’ web copy. Writing a story for a magazine? Read previous issues and get a feel for their style.
Next, line by line, check for spelling and grammar mistakes.
When you feel that your written work is finished, go back over it and give your work a final proofread. It’s best to do this once any design or formatting changes have been done. For example, if you’ve written a brochure, print off a sample copy (or ask your designer to) so that you can check for errors. You’d be surprised how often a page goes missing or a line gets cut off.
Professional writers sometimes hire another expert to do the proofreading for them (again: typo blindness is a real thing!). But if you choose to do it yourself, there are tools and tricks to help you do this.
Tips and tricks for editing your writing
Search for common errors.
Make a checklist of your common mistakes and tick the box once you have checked for this error. For example, I often mistype ‘from’ as ‘form’. Editing tools don’t pick up on this mistake so I make a point of checking for it. Microsoft Word has a search and destroy* function (*not real name) that helps you find and change individual words. I put in ‘form’ and double-check my common typo hasn’t snuck in.
Read your work backwards.
I love this tip for editing short articles, stories and web copy. Paragraph by paragraph, read your work from the bottom to the top. When you’ve slaved over a piece for a long time, your brain will cleverly but unhelpfully see what it wants to see. By breaking up the pattern of what you’re used to reading, it will be easier to spot your writing mistakes. A similar trick is to change the font or the font colour.
Use online editing tools.
Ah, the good ol’ internet. There are many free editing tools, and some paid ones, that you can use to check your writing. For web copy, I find Hemingway useful. This highlights sentences that are long and difficult to read and tells you how easy to read your work is. Grammarly also offers a free online version of its editing tool. I find it is more sophisticated than Microsoft Word’s standard grammar and spelling checker and it picks up on inconsistencies.
Side note: I used to be too proud to use tools like this. I know damn well how to write and I used to think I didn’t need the help of an app. But then I got over myself. Humans make mistakes. A quick check with an online tool is a handy safety net, particularly if you write a lot.
Read your writing aloud to check for errors. An audience is optional.
Read it aloud.
The oldest trick in the book, but it still works like a charm. Stand up and read your document aloud as if you’re doing a presentation. Having an audience of pets is optional. This is a brilliant way to pick up on sentences that don’t flow. If you’re running out of breath mid-sentence, it’s a good indication that your sentences are way too long.
Give your work to a trusted friend or professional.
Professional writers hire professional editors and proofreaders all the time. A second pair of eyes is always useful. But, be careful who you choose. Find a professional or a friend who understands what you’re trying to achieve, or is at least in your target audience. Be clear about what you want them to do. Give them a checklist of what you’d like them to look for. Having your mum gleefully point out typos in your manuscript when what you really wanted was structural feedback is not helpful.
Finally, remember that typos happen.
I’m going to get TYPOS HAPPIN made into a bumper sticker. Despite your best efforts, a mistake or two may slip through the net. The most important thing is that your work is clear and easy to understand. Don’t fret about a couple of small mistakes, no matter what the grammar nerds say.
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