How to take your writing to the next level (and self-edit like a pro)

If communication is a big part of your job (whether it’s marketing, community engagement, social media or otherwise), editing your writing should be a big part of it as well. 

But do you have a solid approach to ensure you make the most of the self-editing process?

In an age of short attention spans and information overload, the value of powerful and incisive communication cannot be overstated. But when you’re caught up in the whirl of the content creation merry-go-round, it’s easy to lose focus on improving your skills.

Yes, technically you’re practicing your writing skills with every piece of copy you produce. But practice without clear intention is a slow road to self-improvement. You wouldn’t try to improve your violin playing by ignoring your sheet music and simply sawing away on the strings. So don’t do the same with your writing.

The great thing about self-editing is that it doesn’t require any additional resources. No courses, no subscriptions, no mentors. Not even extra time (we’ll explain why in a second). No matter what your situation, you can apply this technique.

At Storyflight, we’ve been honing our craft for years. Yet the self-edit remains a cornerstone of our project process because it’s always so powerful, no matter what level your writing is at. 

Follow our advice below and you can be confident you’re leveling up your writing game with every project.

1. Allocate time for self-editing

If you don’t set aside time in your calendar for this part of the process, chances are it won’t happen. Don’t have any time to spare? No problem. Take the last 20% of the time you set aside for writing and label it as self-editing time. 

The great thing about this is that when you know you’ve got time to come back and improve your writing later, it makes it easier to get that first draft on the page. You stop wasting time trying to write the perfect sentence the first time (which is an understandable but extremely inefficient approach!).

2. Don’t try to fix everything at once

When you try to check for every potential issue at the same time—structure, tone, clarity, punctuation—things will inevitably get missed. Read your piece through from start to finish multiple times, checking a different aspect of the copy each time.

3. Be ruthless

Sometimes we write copy we love, but deep down we know it’s not right for the brand, or the audience, or the medium. Having to remove words we adore is an unfortunate reality of being a writer, but there’s no need to delete them. Cut and paste them into another document. They may prove useful for a future project.

4. Know your weaknesses

Are you an accidental double-spacer? Do you sometimes type ‘is’ when you meant ‘as’? Do you find yourself unintentionally switching between past and present tense? Get to know your own quirks and check for them specifically.

5. Put it aside

When you’re immersed in a piece of work, it’s easy to lose perspective. Close the document and work on something else for a day, or put it aside on Friday and don’t read over it again until Monday. You’ll be amazed at how easily both problems and solutions present themselves after you give your brain a break.

6. Read it out loud

At Storyflight, you’ll often see our staff talking to themselves (don’t worry, there’s no cause for concern!). Reading your copy out loud is a surprisingly useful editing tool. Awkward phrases, redundancies and missing or repeated words become much easier to spot. And it helps you check whether your writing flows in a conversational way.

Writing may be an art, but it’s also a science. Apply this formula and we know you’ll be pleased with the results.