Editing your won work is a two fold process: a substantial first edit on your computer screen and a second edit on a hard copy to do the fine-tuning.

Unless you are really pressed for time, any article you write will benefit from putting it aside for a while and going back to it later, with fresh eyes. Doing this with both the first and second edits will allow you to pick up on a lot more things and rectify them before you submit the piece.

One thing you shouldn't do is edit as you write because this will get you caught up on the details prematurely. The writing and editing processes should be kept quite separate.

After you have written the first draft, your article should have a basic shape but require quite a bit of reworking. Deciding which material to include and how to structure it in a logical way is what you should be concentrating on at this stage.

As you begin reading through your article on screen, consider the following:

Does the story make sense?

Does it follow a logical progression and flow properly?

Could it benefit from more information?

Will it engage the reader?

Once you have considered your article in its entirety and have the answers to the above, you can begin editing. Start by adding in extra blocks of information, then re-order paragraphs as required and strengthen the links between them. Clarify any points that seem vague by tightening the wording and filling in any gaps you have left, then drop in extra facts, figures and quotes where needed.

If there is doubt about something you have written or you have made what appears to be an outrageous claim, either justify it or reveal the source of your information.

You should remove any statements that you can't support or might provide the subject with a case for defamation. Sorting out these issues now will avoid hassles later.

Also, if using quotes make sure they are well placed. If you are inserting them after writing the first draft, the preceding lines will have to be altered to provide suitable lead-ups. Quotes are there to reinforce your point or story line, so delete them if they don't achieve this or interrupt the flow.

It can't be stressed enough how important it is to provide factually correct material every time. There can be no guessing or basing a story on something you think is true because getting the facts wrong will undermine your story and your reputation. Also don't try to write around a subject you don't understand as

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