This 7-Step Process Will Transform Your Writing From Good To Great
Don’t lose your genius to bad editing practices
In my roles as an editor on Medium and beyond, I’ve edited thousands of articles and written a fair few myself. I’ve also had my writing worked on and critiqued by writers far more qualified than me. Besides developing an eye for a good story, I’ve learned how to take an idea and put it down on paper in a well-written and engaging manner, with minimal fluff and maximum impact.
If you struggle with self-editing or need a structure to follow, I’ve formulated a seven-step writing and editing process that you can follow to help you get your thoughts from your brain to paper with a great story to show for it.
The brain dump
A friend of mine used to refer to this as “brain spew.” It’s a fitting term. The brain dump is the process of transferring ideas from your head onto paper, in any way or form necessary. It doesn’t matter what order it comes out in, how messy it looks, or how many mistakes it contains. As Ernest Hemingway once said, “The first draft of everything is shit.”
There is one rule of thumb to abide by: don’t stop to edit, ever. Stopping only breaks your concentration and interrupts your flow of thought, something that is hard to reignite.
