by Wayne Leon Learmond

Created on: February 22, 2010   Last Updated: March 29, 2010

If you want to succeed at writing, and have a determination and the willpower to do so, then the one thing that you must always do is edit. At the earliest opportunity get into the habit of editing your work. Check, re-check and triple check if need be, but try and get it as close to perfection as you possibly can. Errors, when writing, are very easily made and missed, and the reason we make errors are many.

You may be tired - in which case pack up your writing for the day and rest. A tired mind leads to tired eyes, and mistakes are made. Or you may be in a rush to get your piece completed. That is a terrible pressure to put yourself under when writing, and again, mistakes are made. 

One must always have pride in the work that you produce for if you do not, then how do you expect others to read your work?  It cannot work only one way. A piece of work, riddled with spelling errors, or no paragraph breaks {where it is just one big lump of text} is unprofessional. And the producers of such 'work' will never make it as writers, for they have no care at all about what they produce.

Indeed, writers will make the odd spelling error here and there and that is acceptable, as long as the writer recognizes them and fixes them.  There is nothing worse for the reader when he or she clicks onto a piece of work, than to be confronted with shoddy writing, poor spelling and a sort of could- not -care -less attitude.

The importance of editing cannot be stressed often enough, and it literally can be the difference between success and failure. A writer should take time with their writing. Every word, every sentence, every comma and full stop should be used like a tool. And, in fact, that is how a writer should view their writing - as a craft like any other that has to be mastered. 

But of course there is no such thing as perfection in writing, yet we as writers can damn well come as near close enough to it, if we edit constantly.  One must get into the habit of editing every little thing that we produce, whether it be an article, novel, short story or poem. 
You must drum into yourselves to check and check again. Does that sentence actually make sense?  Should there be a comma there instead of a full stop?  Should there be a paragraph break there? 

Constantly check over your work, and your work will not only come across as well-written, but professional too. Soon, when you are producing pieces of work that people want to read over and over, your success will be down to one thing only, your editing.

So, all those who aspire to become writers please, get into a good habit...edit your work. It may be tiresome, it may be time-consuming, it may be cumbersome, but it will pay dividends in the long run.  Look upon your writing as a skill, that could earn you money when done correctly. Treat your craft with the love, care and attention you would any other craft, and again you will not go far wrong.

Learn more about this author, Wayne Leon Learmond.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.