Writing with impact can help give you the edge, whether we're talking about a school essay, a work report or that novel that you've always dreamt of having published. A key aspect of writing with impact is the discipline of editing. Indeed, it is often every bit as important as the initial burst of creative inspiration if you wish your story to be published or your essay/report to be valued.
Tips for editing:
To ensure that your editing process is robust, and delivers the quality that you are striving for, here are some simple tips:
1) It is usually advisable to start the formal editing process once you've finished the first draft of your story or report, NOT before. Some people fall into the trap of editing upon the completion of each chapter/section. This will cause you to lose momentum. Get the story or report fully down on paper, then edit it.
2) There are two types of editing. The proofreading part, and the stage where you seek to improve the fluency/quality of your writing. Start with proofreading and iron out all the typos, grammatical errors and formatting errors. If possible, get an independent set of eyes to go over it too. We often don't see things because we're too close to the script. Having removed the typos, you should also check to see whether there are ways to improve the quality of what you've written. This requires a slightly different mindset, which is why it should be separated out from the proofreading stage.
3) Before editing the content, save your original version. This means that you have something to come back to if you decide that you don't like the changes you've made!
4) When editing the content, be rigorous. Cut out padding. It's better to have a 60,000 word novel that is tight and reads well rather than a waffly padded out 100,000 novel. Being concise is even more important where we're talking about work-based writing, especially if your audience is senior management.
5) Make sure the story is consistent in terms of style of narrative, the tense that the story is told in (usually past tense) and that the Point of View used in the story bears examination. e.g. If character x is telling the story, don't have him including details that only character y could have known.
6) Cut out passive words. 'John was angry' is better than 'John was slightly angry'.
7) Iron out plot inconsistencies. You've stated that Susan is a teacher in chapter 2, but in chapter 6 you say that she's a nurse.
8) Check that your dialogue is differentiated and realistic. Avoid "on the nose" dialogue, and try to find ways to differentiate your characters.
9) Make sure your first chapter is really good. If you're sending your script to a publisher, they won't look beyond the first chapter (and maybe the first page) if your story doesn't immediately grab them. Avoid 1st chapters to spend too much space setting the scene. It is better to jump straight into the action.
10) After you've edited the story, seek feedback and then re-edit as necessary.
Hopefully, you'll end up with a really good captivating script or report which you can be really proud of and which will earn you plaudits. If you make editing an ongoing discipline, every time that you write, you should see marked improvements in the way that your writing is appreciated.