If you don’t have a background as an editor, it can be a really good idea to hire an editor to edit your work for you. But what if you don’t have the funds to do so? In that case, you’ll want to brush up on your own editing skills!
Here are my top 4 tips for editing your own work:
1) Print out your writing.
Editing on paper is easier than editing on a screen. Errors will jump out at you much more, and your eyes won’t be tempted to skim the page as quickly as they will on the screen.
If you must edit on the screen, and the work that you are editing is a blog post, copy and paste it into a Word document or another program that has some kind of Spell Check system---it will be able to help you catch any glaring errors.
2) Read backwards.
This is an effective way to check for typos---if you read backwards, from the end to the beginning, reading one word at a time, you’ll look closely at each word individually. You’re more easily able to catch misspelled words this way.
3) Read your work at least three times.
Write your entire article out in full. Then reread it and fill in any gaps or holes that you see, and polish up awkward sentences. Then read it at least one more time for a final proofread and grammar check.
4) Let it sit for a few hours or a couple days before returning to it.
One of the advantages of hiring an editor, besides their expertise, is the fact that they are looking at your work with fresh eyes. You can imitate this by letting your work sit for a while before going back to it and editing it.
To be honest, a few hours probably isn’t going to be long enough for your eyes to be reviewing it with a fresh new take, but a couple of days can make a huge difference. I recommend letting it sit before that final proofread.
How do you feel about editing your own work? What questions do you have about editing? Do you have any tips to add for editing your own work? Share in the comments section below!
These are great tips for editing something I need to practice more often! Thanks for stopping by today:)
Marta
http://www.sweatersstripesandsweets.com
Reading backwards is a great idea. It’s hard for me to catch my own mistakes.
It can take a while, but it’s pretty effective!
As a former writing teacher (Nat’l Writing Project attendee), I’ve done and taught all these except reading backwards. What a great idea! Have seen your post on many Linkys.
Oh my gosh yes!! Editing is soooooo important for us bloggers. It’s terrible to go back through and find errors after you’re published a great piece. Edit. Edit. And then edit again!! Thanks for the post! Great one!
♥ ALL the editing 🙂
These are so useful tips. I’ll be putting these into practice. Thanks
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Really enjoyed, what a great read. Thanks for the tips!
The best advice is probably to let it sit for a few days. Sometimes I write and post immediately and when I go back to the post, there are some errors that I didn’t see before
I use a program called natural reader. It reads my work back to me. I am amazed at how many errors I find this way.
I look at the page upside down, to find repeated words too close together. Great article!
Ha, I love that idea!
[…] Top 4 Ways To Edit Your Own Writing (Sagan Morrow) – Awesome tips! These are general tips and not very specific, but they’re good places to start. […]