Warning: Read This Post Before Editing Your Own Work!

One of my favorite blogs (I have many favorites actually), and one I read on a daily basis is called Copyblogger. Yes, it’s geared more for marketing/corporate type writing, but many of the writing tips they offer can work across the board, whether you’re writing your first novel or copy for a client’s newsletter.

This particular post, Five Easy Steps to Editing Your Own Work, caught my eye because it talks about one of the hardest tasks that most writers face: editing your own work! Us writers are a introverted bunch, especially when it comes to sharing our work with others. This is especially the case when we are starting out because we doubt our abilities and worry about rejection. The result is that editing one’s own work is much more preferable to the agony of actually letting someone else read that short story that took six months to write (don’t laugh, I’ve taken longer).

Of all the steps given in this Copyblogger post, I think step one is the most important (which is probably why it’s first, duh). Seriously though, walking away from a writing project that you’ve been engrossed in for a long period of time is one of the best things you can do.

How long? I prefer a few months. But everyone is different. The point is to really forget about your story/novel/poem so when you read it again, it’s fresh and the mistakes pop out at you.

Thank you Copyblogger and Anna Goldsmith for this excellent post!

Related Posts

• Lesson 1: Always save your work!
• Pull up a chair for that finished manuscript!
• Warning: self-publishers beware of unauthorized ISBN resellers
• What genres do you read?
• Many Americans don’t read books, according to survey

Read More: Writing Tips