6 Ways to Self-Edit Your Own Writing, Easily.
As a writer, it’s easy to jot down a few words and want to call it finished. Most of us can’t afford to pay someone to edit our work, at least not every piece that we write. So, the task falls on us, the one who wrote it. It’s a challenge though, to say the least, to edit something we’ve written and do a good job. I find that I’m either too critical, not critical enough or entirely miss something that fresh eyes would have caught.
After You Write it, let it sit for a couple of days.
Put the piece down for a couple of days before you edit it. Giving yourself a fresh look at what you’ve written will help you to see something you might have missed on the initial writing. You’ll likely notice areas that need to be improved.
Write. And Edit later.
Don’t edit while you’re writing. This one can be a challenge if you’re composing on Word where the software tells you as you type that something is wrong. Don’t worry about it though. Simply get your thoughts on the page and wait for any corrections until later.
Save in Another Format like .pdf.
Save the piece in PDF to get a different look at what you’ve written. I often compose in Microsoft Word and then save the piece to a .pdf file. Something about a .pdf gives me a completely different view. I’m able to catch mistakes easier.
Ask Someone Else to Read it.
Get someone else to read it. My husband is my live-in editor. When I’m looking to get a piece polished smoothly, I involve him in it. He gives me a fresh insight. It doesn’t have to be your husband, but think about a friend, even someone you know online. Most people would consider it an honor to go over what you’ve written and check for errors and give you’re their insight on the piece.
Read it out loud, one sentence at a time.
If you can, print the piece that way you can mark it up as you’re reading. Read each sentence somewhat slowly out loud. If something doesn’t sound right, you’ll be more likely to hear it in your voice when you’re reading it. You’ll also find that you will catch punctuation and sentence structure mistakes by reading it out loud.
Keep Learning and Refreshing on Grammar
Work on your grammar on a regular basis. Refresh yourself on how to punctuate. Frequent websites that help you to improve your punctuation and sentence structure.
The website gives great gramma tips and help. http://www.dailygrammar.com/archive.html. I'm always amazed at how much I learn on this website, which really makes my writing stronger.
What Do You Do to Edit Your Writing? Any Tips?
Please share helpful tips in the comments section!
