How to Effectively Edit Your Writing
A Simple 7-Step Process for Polishing Your Work
Recently, I was talking with a friend who was overwhelmed by the editing process.
How do you know when an article is finished and ready to be published? How can you do your best to make sure it is polished and free from typos and other errors?
That’s why I put together this article sharing my simple and effective 7-step editing process, along with the editing advice I’ve gleaned from various famous authors over the years.
This is the same process I use to edit my articles for Medium. It will guide you step by step as you edit your writing.
This article focuses on editing nonfiction, but I follow a similar process for editing both my fiction and nonfiction writing. You can adapt this advice according to your own writing projects. Read on for my editing tips.
1. Outline
When I have an idea for a new article, I spend time jotting down notes, researching (if necessary), and thinking of different ways I can approach the topic.
Before I begin writing the piece, I gather all of those notes together and construct an outline. (If I were writing fiction, this would be the plotting stage.)
