Comments on: Editing Help – Tips for Revising Articles, Essays, and Short Stories

By: Words on a page » Blog Archive » A few links for the end of the week - A blog about writing, in its various forms

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:44:23 +0000

[...] good editing tips for various kinds of [...]

By: Alan Bowman

Alan Bowman — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:43:48 +0000

I also have a hard time writing. I submitted my work to editingsolutions.ca and was blown away by their efficiency and professionalism. They really set my work apart.

By: Laurie PK

Laurie PK — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:55:30 +0000

Thanks for your comments, and tips.

I’m glad the transitions tip worked for you, Karen. Chopping writing makes readers stop reading.

Lisa, it sounds like you’re very thorough and structured when you edit. Good for you!

My biggest problem — besides not saving previous drafts, like you, Jennifer — is ditching paragraphs or even sentences that don’t work. I see it as a waste of time and energy. So, I have a hard time cutting my work.
Laurie PK´s last blog post ..Why Write for Suite 101? 10 Benefits of Online Writing

By: George Angus

George Angus — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:57:59 +0000

Hi Laurie,

I do struggle with this as I tend to edit as I go.

I have found the most helpful piece of advice (for me) is to put the darned thing away for a while and then get back to it with a fresh eye. Makes a huge difference for me.

George
George Angus´s last blog post ..New 10K Challenge Day

By: How a Houston Homemaker is Like a Portuguese Programmer - the WIAW Week in Review | Website In A Weekend

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:36:40 +0000

[...] need to check and recheck yourself against the basics at regular intervals. Here’s a great check list for self-editing. Note: I sell will be selling a similar list targeted specifically to bloggers in the near future. [...]

By: Jennifer Roland

Jennifer Roland — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:17:55 +0000

I have been bitten by not following tip #1. In my current fiction WIP, I made a huge change, and went on for a couple weeks before I realized it didn’t work. Because I didn’t save multiple drafts, I had to try to re-create the original. A lot of work that I could have avoided if I had kept the previous version.

By: Lisa (lablady)

Lisa (lablady) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:16:59 +0000

Laurie,

Great tips, will definitely check out that book. I like focusing on 1-2 things at a time when I edit my work. First and foremost for me is correcting all the spelling and grammatical mistakes; those I find quite distracting. Once that is done, I print the document out, do a read through for any glaring mistakes in sentence structure, redundancy, etc.. Then, I move on to everything else; one issue at a time. Good idea, definitely. At some point, I’ll read it out loud too to catch any tricky dialogue, pacing, readability issues.

With my client’s work, I tend to catch everything obvious on the first read-through, go back read through again (sometimes out loud if something doesn’t “sound” right) to fine-tune.
Lisa (lablady)´s last blog post ..Making The Shift

By: Karen Marcus

Karen Marcus — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:18:08 +0000

This is great, Laurie. I especially like the transition tip. Many writers don’t understand just how important transitions are for helping readers follow their ideas.