My Blog Editing Checklist

It took me writing hundreds of blog posts to create my blog editing checklist. I was not the first to do any of these steps; others paved my way. I’d catch a mistake and then research how to avoid it. It’s a hard way to learn. I hope this list helps you create an editing system that works for you without going through the pain I did. Every point here might not fit your needs, so put together what works for you.

My Blog Editing ChecklistWrite drunk edit sober – turn off Spell Check and write

“At an event, a friend took over notetaking from me. He used my laptop and, after a few minutes, asked me why Spell Check was disabled. I told him that I don’t want my concentration broken when I write, and editing, including spellcheck, is distracting. I explained I enabled spellcheck when I began editing by not while writing because I wanted the creative juices to flow and not to be stopped and started by interruptions that slowed the creative process.” — A Simple 6-Step Blog Writing System

Run through Spell Check at completion

So, yes, use Spell Check, but only after you’ve completed the first draft.

Let the post sit for at least 24 hours

Let the post and your mind rest. Take a break. It will still be there tomorrow, and you’ll have a fresher and clearer look at it.

Read the post out loud

When I worked in an office posting 5 new blogs a week,  I drove my 2 office mates batty. Every day, I would read a new post out loud to them. It’s amazing what you can hear but miss when you don’t read it out loud.

Review each sentence beginning at the end

Start at the last sentence of the post and edit each sentence one at a time. You will often find mistakes, better ways to say something, and unnecessary sentences.

Run it through  Grammarly Know your wordsThe fewer unnecessary words, the better – cut and cut againIs it the right word? Are you certain? Look it up.Have I overused a word? Did I use the same word in the last sentence? Replace it.Make one last review

Don’t use mediate when you mean meditate. Did tell you about the time I misspelled inconvenient and Spell Check changed it to incontinence? Yep, I didn’t catch it at first.

Did I say one last review?

Do it again in WordPress for readability and for SEO. One of the last steps in my blog process is to place it in WordPress. At that time, I proofread and review it again and use Yoast to check readability and keyword optimization. I’ll review the post one more time before I hit publish, which for me is two to three weeks after the piece was placed in WordPress. And you know what? I almost always find mistakes, make improvements, and add or delete copy.

Add image with alt description

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Publish and review the published post on the siteWhat’s Your Editing Checklst?

So, do you have a blog editing system or checklist? If so, what would you add to this?

How Can I Help?

Let me know if I can offer any help or advice. If this post struck a nerve, you might want to check out my book, How to Stay Ahead of Your Business Blog Forever. The book is full of action plans to create a blogging/writing system that works for you.

If you enjoyed this post, you might like How to Make the End of Your Blog Post a Beginning.

 

 

 

 

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