How to Raise Your Self-Editing Skills

I'm making the assumption here that you're already careful with grammar and the like. And you probably already know to pay close attention to the specific editorial guidelines, voice/style, and audience expectations for the outlet(s) that publish your work. If that's not the case, start there.

Generally, editing practice is best when done in this order:

• 30,000-foot "big picture" issues

• Paragraph and sentence-level issues, inclusive of transitions

• Style and grammatical issues

Obviously, many editing concerns fit under each of the three umbrellas.

If we remember that the overarching goal of editing is improving the readers' experience, the order of operation will become second nature over time. Clarity and conciseness, organization and structure, consistency and language all work together to ensure this experience, so that's where to start when looking at your own work.

Learn what your editor wants, from your own study of pieces written by others for the same outlet and, because it sounds like you work with this editor routinely, pay especially close attention to the notes made on your past submissions. Creating a spreadsheet of these comments will give you a handy, at-a-glance way to see what the editor wants more or less of from you on future pieces. Attending to this feedback will automatically improve your future pieces for that editor/outlet.

The old adage "practice makes perfect" is only true if we're practicing the right things. That's hard to do on our own writing, especially if editing in general is not a skill you've used for others. Consider setting up a task for yourself, one in which you choose a piece written by someone else. (This automatically introduces the distance needed to edit.)

Pretend you are the editor, perhaps for a different outlet or audience, or perhaps for a variance on the topic or angle. Edit this piece with whatever parameters you choose. Then, compare your newly edited version with the original. Take specific note of the changes and analyze whether or not your edits have improved the piece and how, specifically.

This last part is crucial. If you find it daunting, pretend you're explaining to the writer why you suggested these changes and how the edited version meets that goal.

Editing Advice