Editing Your Writing [Blog Writing Series #5]
Part 1: Ideas & Research for blogs. Part 2: Frameworks. Part 3: Actually writing. Part 4: Bonus Blog Elements.
If you’ve been following the steps so far, then you have now written a blog. Congrats! You’re well on your way to finishing that blog and eventually sharing it with the world. Super cool.
Today we’ll talk about editing, and I’ll fill you in on what I know, what I do, and what I advise.
First and foremost when it comes to editing:
Different blogs require different editing processes.
Don’t think that there’s a one-size-fits-all approach. In general, it should be fairly logical what sort of editing process your blog will need based on what your end goals are, but regardless if you’re writing for a Wall Street Hedge Fund website or your own personal poetry site, I’ll give you some advice.
Before we even really begin the editing process, I encourage you to grow a thick skin. Having your work edited can feel vulnerable and embarrassing. What if someone sees how terrible my writing is?! Guess what: we all suck at writing until we don’t. There should be no shame in the game. If someone wants to make fun of you for your honest attempt at writing, they probably aren’t someone to include in your process.
Learn to separate your ideas from your identity.
If done properly, a criticism of your writing should not be a criticism of you. Similarly, when someone asks you to edit their writing, we want to make sure we are evaluating the content that is directly before us, and not making any sort of assumptions or comments about the person who wrote it (we are exclusively allowed to make comments about the writer themselves if they are positive).
Take a deep breath, don’t get too attached to your work, and we’ll begin the editing process.
Remember that our goal is to make the writing better, so if what you wrote sucks, that’s ok! It shouldn’t by the time this is over. I can’t stress this enough. Be kind in your editing of other’s work, and hopefully you will receive the same in return.
Without any further ado, here’s what I got for advice on editing your blog.
1. Self-Editing
Regardless if you’re about to submit your blog to someone else for evaluation or if you’re not, it’s a good idea to go over your own work before you fire it off.
If possible, leave the blog for a day and come back to it tomorrow. If you’re tight on a deadline, confident in what you wrote, or just eager to keep the ball rolling, then send away.
In general, here are the quick questions I ask myself when self-editing:
Are there any typos? Grammatical issues? Sentences that could be rewritten to flow better?
Is the article long enough? Have I hit the minimum length I was going for?
Does the flow of my overall blog make sense? Should I rearrange any pieces of it?
Can I re-enforce any ideas I present that are questionable or quickly glossed over?
Have I used a consistent tone of voice throughout?
If you can answer positively to all of these questions above, you’re probably ready to progress with your draft.
Assuming that you will enlist the help of others, keep reading.
2. Enlisting Professional Help
If you’ve got a coworker in your department, or a peer in the industry who can give you some good feedback, send the blog their way.
You can use your mom or your spouse to give you feedback if need be, but take their response with a grain of salt if they do not professionally operate within or understand your industry. It’s always best to seek out someone who has as intimate a knowledge of what you’re writing about (if not better!) than you do.
Be clear about what sort of feedback you’re looking for them to provide.
Sometimes you might be looking for a response about the topic in general and all they catch is typos. Similarly, some editors go overboard with pages of notes when all you needed was a quick check-over. Don’t make assumptions that your editor knows what you want.
Here are some parameters to help guide your editor in feedback:
Length of article
Subject of the article + the angle you take
Strength of the arguments
The tone of your writer’s voice and if it is appropriate
Typos and grammatical issues
How they think your target audience will react
It’s also probably a good idea to indicate to your editor what stage of the process you are at: if you are interested in pursuing a complete top-to-bottom re-write if necessary, or if you’re just looking for minor fixes and the article is pretty well done as you see it.
Sometimes an editor will rip to shreds what you didn’t care to analyze so deeply. Again: clarify what you want from them in editing.
3. Enlisting Target-Audience Help
Whether a coworker or peer isn’t available, or you don’t overly care what they have to contribute, sometimes it’s best just to directly approach someone in the target demographic your blog has been written for and get their opinion on what you’ve written.
Similar to the parameters outlined above, you can also ask this target-audience reader some of the following:
How much value does this article provide you?
Were you persuaded, educated, or entertained by the time you’d finished reading it?
How does the author come across when writing? Confident? Uncertain? Arrogant? Like a friend?
Would you be compelled to share this article after reading it?
If not, what would push you to genuinely want to share it?
Is there anything else I’m missing that you think I should know?
Of course, add your own questions if you need to, but these ought to give you a bit of a start when looking for advice from a person you are hoping will love your article.
4. Re-write as thoroughly as you need to
If you have selected a good editor, and they have written you back with some extensive notes on your article, do not be discouraged. It is ok to re-write your blog as many times as you need to! If the final draft looks nothing like the first one, this is no reason to be embarrassed, or think you wasted time. If you hadn’t started with what you had, you wouldn’t have ended up where you did.
This is all part of a process, and writing is not something to be ashamed about.
By giving writing a try, you are already ahead of the millions of people who think “I could do that” but never do.
A Gentle Reminder:
This isn’t really an editing tip so much as it is just a general good practice to keep in mind. (Maybe that makes it an editing tip. I don’t know…. You decide)
Don’t take criticism from someone you wouldn’t go to for advice.
Re-reading this article, you’ll see how specific I was about who you should seek out for editing advice. This is because not all opinions are created equal, and you shouldn’t treat them all as such.
If you have a reason you disagree with someone or their feedback, don’t be shy to argue it. Trust your gut at the end of the day, and as long as you’re willing to learn any lessons you might need to, you will be golden.
In Conclusion:
Editing doesn’t have to be scary. It doesn’t have to be painful.
Editing is just one step in the process.
It is better to make a fool of yourself in the editing process than to bypass it altogether and make a fool of yourself publicly!
If you are wise about selecting an editor and clearly defining what feedback you need from them, you are going to be well on your way to a blog that is intelligent, well-written, vetted, and ready to benefit your target audience.
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