Quick Editing Exercises You Can Do Now to Prevent Writer’s Remorse Later

I’ve been struggling with the editing process for awhile. A part of that is psychological. I would rather pretend that my piece looks good enough instead of deal with the agonizing reality that it’s far from perfection.

But if you want to be a successful writer, this won’t bode well for a long-term career.

That’s why I’ve developed a quick system to insure I won’t make a fool out of myself by submitting less than par prose. It’s easy as 1-2-3.

After you’ve worked on the final draft of your latest endeavor take a breather. In a day or two, try this:

1. Read your words out loud, preferably facing a mirror with emphasis as if you were Oprah. That’s the way you catch weird phrases, grammatical errors and unnecessary sentences.

2. Read your words slowly and pay attention to how you feel about each word. Use your intuition to help pull out words that don’t fit. It’s the reason why I eventually threw away the word “saccharin,” in an essay I recently submitted. It bugged me so I gave it a heave-ho and moved on with it.

3. Read it as if you were a reader. It’s easy to get lost in your own perspective. You’re reading it as the writer. But one way to make sure you’re being clear and relevant is to put yourself in the shoes of a potential reader. The best is if you can even imagine who they are, what they look like, what they could obtain from your words.

*Extra credit: Get a friend to read your work. It always helps to get a pair of fresh eyes to give you feedback.

Final thoughts: I realized that sometimes my right brain likes to mess with my left. My creative ego loves to have the last word. That’s why I need to be extra vigilant and continually ask myself if what I’m writing has a purpose in the entirety of the prose. If it doesn’t, it’s hasta la vista baby. There’s better words out there.