Edit an Article & Learn With Me

Here’s some concrete examples of editing, rearranging, and generally making your writing better.

I’m a writer; I write a lot; and I love doing it. But editing, and improving, my content is incredibly satisfying in a way that writing often isn’t.

I want to let you in on the early stages of my editing process. Along the way, we’ll discuss a few tips and tricks for refining your own work.

To start, consider a few notes.

• I won’t be combing through my entire draft with you.
• This first draft is bad. But that’s great.
• I’ve digitized my notes for the examples below; my handwriting, shown in this cover photo, was clearly not up to publishing par.

The following are excerpts from my very first draft for another article, and my real-life-written comments. Let’s dive in.

EXAMPLE 1

Throughout this article-about-an-article, I want to emphasize one main theme: minimizing redundancy. To write succinctly, check for unnecessary words and phrases.

We’re not looking to take information or context out of a sentence. We’re just identifying where that information has already been communicated and/or implied.

Take the above, for example. I’ve removed out there from the sentence That’s not to say that there aren’t great self-help books out there.

Out there is redundant. Of course other self-help books are “out there.” Same with other in the following sentence: “And there are many incredible other nonfiction books.”

EXAMPLE 2

One of the most common — and one of my favorite — redundancies out there is hedging an opinion in a personal article.

In the example above, I first wrote “The truth (or, I guess, my opinion) is that there’s only so much to be realistically said.” When editing, I took out Or, I guess, my opinion.

Since we expect The truth is to be followed by a statement of opinion, I don’t need to qualify it. It’s implied. And even if I did mean to state something as fact, readers and writers alike should know not to take anyone’s opinion as fact without further research.

I also referenced someone in my draft and forgot their last name. Not the biggest flub, but it brings up an interesting point about first-drafting: Interrupt your writing as little as possible.

This helps in two main ways.

1. I won’t stop spitting out ideas. My train of thought is intact and I can focus on the writing.
2. If I’m doing something more intensive than looking up someone’s last name (sorry, Peter Shamshiri) it helps to establish my thoughts on the subject before doing more than cursory research. You’ll be ready to change or support your unbiased opinion, and find where you’re lacking.

EXAMPLE 3

Here we have another great example of redundancy. First, I wrote, “While you[r] personal preferences may differ…” While editing, I realized personal was entirely unnecessary; your preferences clearly indicates a personal opinion.

I also took of course out of the sentence “And, of course, not every book is the same….” As much as I love an of course, it’s unnecessary 90% of the time. Unless it’s notably effective in communicating your ideas, or used sarcastically, you can usually leave it out.

Sure, it’s one little change at a time. But as you continue practicing, those little changes add up; you’ll find opportunities for editing faster; and your writing as a whole will improve.