Editing Your Article? — Check This Out!
A short list of ways you can edit efficiently.
Okay, so if you’ve been interested in writing, and you’re planning on preparing to post your article. You’ve done the research and have finished a draft that you’re pretty confident in. So, what’s the next step?
It’s time to edit!
While everyone has different editing methods, making sure to implement a few key steps into your editing process can help you achieve cleaner results.
Step 1. Remove grammatical errors.
Proper grammar is a huge part of making a credible article. If you can’t show that your article uses proper grammar, it becomes a lot harder for your audience to find you credible and continue reading. Proper grammar shows professionalism, which is a catalyst for credibility. Grammar should be one of the first things you make sure is exemplary.
You can use a grammar-checking app such as Grammarly or even just use the grammar-check feature of whatever app you like to type your articles on. Either way, you mustn’t leave obvious grammar mistakes in your article to boost credibility, which is an important step in building an audience.
Step 2. Check the article’s flow.
Whether you can just read through the article in your head or whether you need to read it out loud, rereading your article will help you see it from a reader’s perspective. If the article doesn’t seem to flow correctly to you, it probably won’t to your audience. For the best results, I recommend coming back to read your article after giving it a bit of time after you finish writing.
During this process, you should be wary of punctuation use, usage of active and passive voice, sentence structure, etc.
Step 3. Check for tangents.
Building off of flow, make it a priority to keep your article from going on unnecessary tangents. If your article drifts away from the central idea, you’ll end up losing the readers’ attention.
Unless it’s absolutely necessary for you to go off on a tangent, for example, to prove your point, try to avoid including extra fluff information that doesn’t contribute to your overall message.
Step 4. Look at word choice and tone.
Word choice is important as it sets the tone of your article. Check for overly used words, words with incorrect connotations, and any improper use of informal language.
Depending on what kind of writing you are trying to post, you need to make sure your word choice creates a proper tone.
Word choice builds credibility. For example, if your article is research-based, it’s important to use formal language and sound professional. If you’re developing an argument, it’s important to build a confident tone.
Step 5. Put in proper spacing.
The use of proper spacing prevents the information in your article from becoming jumbled and also keeps the reader from becoming overwhelmed with words.
By adding proper spaces between gaps in your ideas, the writing appears more organized and is more likely to keep the readers’ attention.
Step 6. Add Subheadings!
To make your article easier to navigate and less messy to read, consider adding subheadings to split up the article’s major key points.
This way, readers can skim through and see which points they really want to read. This is a great way to sustain your readers’ focus, especially in longer articles.
Step 7. Emphasize key ideas.
Certain words or phrases may be more significant than others in your article. To make sure your readers see them, you might want to emphasize them. Fortunately, Medium provides numerous options.
You can bold or italicize your key points to create contrast with the text around them.
For quotes, if you want them to stand out, Medium gives you two nice options to choose from that vary from the traditional quotation marks.
Option 1
Option 2
Step 7. Go through the steps more than once!
For most people, especially when you’re new, you’re bound to miss mistakes on your first editing run-through. That is why you must read through it more than once. If it helps, find someone to peer review. Once you feel like your article has been cleaned up to your liking, it’s time to hit that publish button!
