How can you edit your work like a pro?

To edit like a pro, focus your energy on clarity, voice, tone, style, and content. Reading the piece aloud is a good way to catch and correct editing issues. When you read a piece aloud, it's a helpful way to flag moments where the writing feels stilted, awkward, or unclear. Proofreading is a totally different part of the process. After you've edited the piece for clarity and cohesion, that's when you focus on catching typos, spelling errors, and improper grammar.

Yes! Reading aloud is one of my oldest tricks to editing and catching typos. I also find printing out an actual hard copy is also very helpful when making changes.

I am a professional editor, but I advise people to use different parts of their brain to edit their work, especially longer works. Printing out a copy of the text in a different font (and page size/layout) and reading a hard copy does wonders, as does using MS Word's "Read Aloud" function. And if you have the luxury of time, let it marinate and read it again in a day or two.

I Read and read. Sometimes aloud too. It helps me recognize my mistakes. Also, taking a break is the big point. Come back to your work with a fresh mind and see the magic.

What I do is write the content and then leave it untouched for a while, which usually translates to a couple of days. When I come back to the content, I quickly and easily notice the errors. This way, I segment my work, dedicating time to create rapidly without stopping to edit, and then dedicating time to the final editing. Furthermore, with ChatGPT, I've developed some prompts that allow me to edit much more quickly.

We can use the tools but it's not a good idea to rely on them. Grammarly can change your words and make them awkward. Sometimes they feel like AI generated. So we shouldn't always use them.

Using tools such as Grammarly is good for basic mistakes such as misspells or wrong adjectives. For sentence structure I would prefer a seasoned editor who will not only correct you but also give constructive feedback.

Editing can be time consuming and difficult for any writer. Using services like Grammarly automate the editing process and eliminate a great deal of work that you would otherwise have to do after you finish writing something. I would highly recommend the same to many writers struggling with the editing process.

Online tools are a great way of editing, and I think they're a good tool to use when doing a first edit, however I still always go back through work to make sure it doesn't sound robotic and has the anticipated style. I tend to use these tools before I do my own in-depth checks myself.

Seeking feedback on your work from other writers can be a good and bad thing. It always feels good to be understood by your own kind, but something from my experience that I have learned about writers is they will always prioritize their own work even when critiquing the work of another. There should be an equal balance that rests between trusting in your own work and seeking thoughts from others.

Choosing the right person to read with/for you is crucial. You need someone honest, helpful, and aware of you and your style. I've had editors who steamrolled my voice or intentions, I've had yes men, and I've had hugely helpful collaborators. Choose wisely--and don't be afraid to change your mind and find someone new if you all don't jive well!

A fresh perspective is nearly always useful when writing anything. Another person's point of view can be vital and can help unearth potential issues with content that I haven't spotted myself. It's also useful to see how others may interpret my writing and what I'm trying to say. In my opinion it's impossible to know exactly how others will view a piece of writing, so getting feedback can really assist with this. Finally, it is never a bad idea to ask for constructive criticism when writing. I don't think anything is ever perfect but I can always improve and this kind of feedback can be incredibly helpful.

One thing I've found helpful is cultivating the habit of reading my work as the reader, not the writer. You are the writer when you're putting your words out there as well as for the first few rounds of edit, but at some point, you have to start perceiving your work as a reader would. That always helps in correcting your course.

Come back after a break: One of the best ways of excelling at editing is not doing it all at once. Say, you have just finished writing your blog/article. Don't sit down to edit immediately. You are likely to miss out on important edits and corrections. Instead take some time off or come back the next day for the edits. Sounds trivial but is impactful.

Our enemies in editing come in the form of looming deadlines and the piling of tasks. These things can push us to miss editing certain aspects of our work. Because we only have one goal in mind: to get things done. Now. Immediately. This is why having a list of stages/workflows is important. Sure, you can build a habit of it over time. But when we are too busy and we are trying our best to multitask, we tend to forget and overlook things. A simple example in life would be how we always know to lock the door when we leave. Yet halfway during our commute, we would think, "Did I really lock the door?"

I have two techniques to edit: I will read what I have written from the perspective of the intended reader. For this, after writing, I take a break and return, allowing me to read the content with a fresh mind. Secondly, I ask someone to read, and I will listen. This gives me a different perspective and allows me to detect the errors. If no one is by my side, I read it myself, record it, and will hear it to detect mistakes. Everyone has their ideas. It just comes through practice. Just try different methods and choose the one that suits you the most.

Figure out what works for you in terms of editing and then stick to the system. You can always add to it and improve it, but try to organise yourself to some extent. I like to have a specific system that I can slightly adapt to different types of content and go from there. The more experience you get, the better your system may be and both your system and writing will likely evolve with time!

I believe taking a break is essential in the process of editing. For articles and tight deadlines that may only be an hour or a day, but even that helps. You have 'fresh' eyes to catch errors. I also return to my talking points I listed before starting an article or chapter. That helps me maintain the focus.

Absolutely vital. Let the material cool a bit. You come back with fresh eyes, so to speak, and a much more objective perspective. You'll catch errors or typos you skipped over before.

Burnout is real. All brains needs regular breaks! If you start to feel like you're struggling to write - take a break! If you feel tired - take a break! If you're getting frustrated - take a break! It's always worth coming back to editing after a break as, in my opinion, you're more likely to spot mistakes. It's easy to miss problems when you're tired. Sometimes ten minutes and a cup of tea is all you need to be refreshed and ready to go again.

One step this article missed – take a break between writing and editing. It may be tempting to jump to the top and start rereading as soon as you write the last sentence, but your brain needs to shift gears. Stepping away from your desk, even for just a few minutes, can pull you out of the content so you can see the structures that support it. Words, sentences, punctuation, and formatting are the materials you build your message with. When each piece is solid, your content can stand.

Editing is a great way to improve your writing skills. And with practice you'll see your kinks. For me, I found that my first drafts were always shit. So I started spending more time on first drafts and correcting my previous mistakes. This helped me reduce the turnaround time and editing time also went down. You can do the same once you write at least 3-4 blogs a week and try to edit them. Also make sure to read high quality content so you know what a polished writeup looks, feels, and read like

Don't be too hard on yourself. Take a breather and relax for a bit and then come back. We are all humans. We all make mistakes. Do not get stuck in the past. Focus on the present and future that lies ahead of you.

Consider who are the recipients of your work. Think about their objectives and their needs, then edit your work with that mindset.

Allow a third party expert to read your work for you. That way they understand what you want to write and can easily fish out mistakes that you the author can’t see. You know when you write something your mind keeps reading it in a perfect way and you don’t see any error till someone else spots it.

Your first draft is probably going to suck. The point of the first draft is to get your ideas down in written form. After you do that, put it away for a day. Come back with fresh eyes to edit your work. Some questions to ask yourself as you edit: 1. Is it clear and easily understood? 2. Would someone who does not know anything about this topic understand what I wrote? 3. Is it grammatically correct? 4. Should I use headlines or bullets to ensure this is better organized and easier to understand? 5. Is my format visually appealing?

Remove unnecessary words and phrases that don't add value to your writing. Conciseness often improves readability. Before you submit or publish, you'll need to conduct a final review to ensure all edits have been incorporated and that your work is polished and error-free. Remember that editing is a skill that improves with practice.

One thing I found helpful is to read a document from the end to the beginning. This helps me focus on the specific content in the paragraph (or slide) and its relationship to the preceding paragraph (or slide).