When I was younger and people asked me what my hobbies were, I’d answer, “Reading and writing.”
Sometimes I’d get strange looks from people as if these activities were the most boring things to do.
If you ask me that same question today, I’d probably have the same answer. I still read a lot because I love learning and being inspired. And I still write a lot because I love to connect and teach through writing.
Now when it comes to writing, there are three stages: 1) planning, 2) the actual writing itself, and 3) editing.
Planning is when you think about who your reader is, why you’re writing, and what you want to convey. Writing is when you actually write based on what you plan. And then there is editing — my favourite part of writing.
That’s when writing begins to feel magical and fun. That’s when I move sentences or whole paragraphs around. It’s when I cut out words or replace them with new ones so that my writing connects with the reader.
There’s a saying that you write for yourself, but you edit for your reader.
Editing is essential, so don’t neglect this part. Even a quick scan of your work is better than just composing and quickly hitting “send” or “print”.
While some may hire editors to edit their work — especially if they’re writing an academic report, thesis or publishing a book — most of the time, we need to be the ones editing our own work.
So what are the best ways to edit your own writing?
In our live session yesterday, I shared seven tips to help you edit your work. These tips are based on my experience of editing my own as well as other people’s writing.
You can watch the replay here.
You can also listen to this session on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts.
I hope you find the tips helpful and we’ll talk to you again soon!
Best regards,
Amnah
P.S. Although we no longer provide proofreading and editing services, we are working on creating a writing course where we’ll go deeper into the tips and techniques for writing. This will cover the stages of planning, writing, and editing your own work. If you’re interested in joining our writing course, do join our email list. We’ll send you notifications through email when we open registration.
