If you are a writer, and especially if you are an experienced writer, you might wonder why you would want to consider having your writing professionally edited. I am a writer myself, and while I do self editing (read on for hints on how to self edit) on all of my writings, anything that I submit for consideration for print publication, I have professionally edited by a colleague of mineand I am a professional editor by trade!
Truth is, much like an attorney should never represent himself in a court of a law, a writer should never attempt to do the final edit on their own works.
Why?
Well, there are many reasons for this, but I'll
just briefly touch on the most obvious ones here:
1. When you edit something you have also written, you read it from the perspective of knowing what you meant to write, instead of seeing it exactly the way it was written. Someone else who was not inside your head at the time of the written may not see it as clearly as you do, or may see things you missed.
2. If what you've written is quite lengthy, like a novella or novel, or a non fiction manuscript or eBook, then you probably are sick of the writing at this point, and being able to take a break from it will allow you a better perspective when you come back to it. Passing the writing off to a professional editor who has never seen the writing before and has not been as immersed in it as you have will provide a fresh set of eyes to ensure nothing is missed.
3. Having someone other than yourself look at your writing before you submit it for publication is critical, even if you do not hire a professional editor, because the feedback you receive from others who read your writing will be a good indication as to how your target audience will receive what you have written. However, a professional editor who is in the industry will be able to give you the added feedback from the perspective of how your writing will be received in the marketplace.
4. Professional editing services are something you can use in your query letter to editors or agents and will show that you are committed to investing in yourself and your writing to make it the very best it can be.
There are, of course, many other reasons and ways that professional editing services can help you in your writing career. These points above touch on the most obvious and probably the most important reasons why you should consider professional editing services from your writing.
Self Editing Option
However, for short stories, articles and web copy where you might not be making those big bucks, professional editing is not always feasible or practical. That's when self editing becomes important. Self editing is almost as important, and sometimes more important, than the writing that you do.
When people read your writing, how well written, grammatically correct, coherent and interesting your writing is will make a difference in how seriously readers take your writing. If your copy is riddled with errors, spelling issues, typos and the like, some reader will not see past those errors to even know if your information is worth reading. Others may read past the errors, but you, as a knowledgeable source of information, lose credibility when you don't take the time to perfect your copy.
Self editing is not all that hard. Let's look at some easy ways to self edit:
1. Read your copy out loud, preferably
to another person. You'll be amazed how many errors you can find from doing this!
2. Have another person read your writing. It helps to have someone other than the writer read the copy, because they will see errors the writer fills in because they knew what they meant.
3. Find another writer who you can exchange proofreading with, where you will read one of their articles and check for errors for every articles of yours they read. Lots of writers have proofreading buddies.
4. Find a writers forum or website that has a critiques and feedback section that is password protected and ask the members to proof your copy prior to submission.
5. Read your content backward! One sentence at a time, from the last sentence to the first-reading this way makes it easier to see an error, because you're not 'in the flow' of reading it the way you intended to write it.
As you can see, editing doesn't have to cost a fortune, and while it make take a little bit of extra time to edit your copy, you'll appear a better writer, present a better image and invite repeat readers and build that all important readership if you take the time to edit your copy before putting it out for the world to read.