How I edit my own writing

“To write is human. To edit is divine.” - Stephen King

He knows what he’s talking about. Which means if you edit something you’ve written you’re a mix between humanity and divinity. Like Jesus.

Here are five things I look for when editing my own writing. They’re specific to me but have broad applications.

Read with red pen in hand.

1. Your and you’re
My most common grammatical mistake. I don’t know why. But when I see it, it’s like a flashing siren that shows exactly where I lost focus while writing. Knowing your knee-jerk errors (and why they happen) is a great place to start editing.

2. Just
This is my “uhh” or “umm.” It’s a word I type when I’m, like, I don’t know, just stalling for time. 99.9% of the time I can delete it. Similar to a common error, these stall words should jump off the page as places where you weren’t writing confidently. Reread the sentence and see if you actually knew what you were saying.

3. Full stop.
I love short sentences. Love ‘em. So much. But when there’s a string of them all in a row, they lose their punch. Everyone has a go-to sentence structure. Search for places where multiple sentences look and sound the same. Then mix it up.

4. Missing metaphors
Metaphors are like a burst of oxygen to a deep sea free diver. I forget them because I usually get caught up in the topic at hand. Your reader no doubt loves the depths of the ocean that you’re showing them in whatever topic you’re writing about, but they need air. Give them a break with a new mental image and then take them back under.

5. Ambiguousness
Look for words that don’t make sense. Don’t use five syllables when you could use two. I run into this often when I’m trying to sound smart. But the simple fact is that clarity is king. And if I actually were smart I would describe something as “unclear” rather than “full of ambiguousness.”