Editing 101: 5 tips for success

Other than public speaking, few things inspire the kind of fear that editing does.

Or maybe it isn’t fear. Maybe it’s sheer boredom. After all, who really wants to spend their time rereading, revising, and trying to catch every grammar, spelling, and punctuation error?

Other than a nerd like me? Probably no one.

So, I’m coming to you today with a few things that can help speed (and lessen the pain) of this sometimes arduous process.

Get in a routine! – Have a specific process in place that works for you that considers both your strengths and (be honest!) your weaknesses. If you struggle with punctuation, perhaps make that a top priority, for instance. If you’re great at spelling, you likely won’t need to spend as much time on that area.

But making your process habitual and step-by-step can help. For me, I do a quick read of the entire piece so I can consider if it’s meeting the goals I’ve (or my editor, publisher, etc) set. Then I move on to word choice (especially repetition), and other concerns.


Read your piece in different forms- If you’ve edited already on a computer screen, try printing it out. If you’ve done that, maybe try it on your Kindle or phone. And finally, read it OUT LOUD. You’ll feel odd, but you’ll definitely catch more mistakes.

Where will your audience most likely receive this piece? Spend a good amount of time there too in order to consider its overall aesthetic.


Word list- Have a go-to list of overused words in your medium, style, genre (these become apparent pretty quickly, though substitutions for your favorite words might be a bit more elusive)

I keep an editing word list as a document in my computer and have printed copies as well. Depending on the length of my piece, (I mainly write novels, so they’re between 70-90K words), I try to keep any word to less then 50 uses.


Types of words

Are you using active language, concise language, brief language?

No/ few adverbs, adjectives?
Are you misleading your audience with the words you’ve chosen

Did you inadvertently add in your opinion on a subject by the use of particular language?






Audience considerations

ALWAYS remember your audience!

What do they want? What do they expect? What do you want them to think, feel, believe after reading your piece? Is the language, form, and style going to achieve that?

While these tips aren’t an exhaustive list, they are a great start to finding success in editing your work.

What editing tips would you add to this list?

Happy writing!