Improve Your Writing in 15 Minutes With This Simple Editing Checklist
Steal my 5-step editing process to deliver high-quality writing
Writing used to be a slow laborious process for me.
Until I stole the approach of 3 top writers.
I didn’t understand how Tim Denning, Eve Arnold & Nicolas Cole did it. Churning out high-quality articles every week. So I studied everything they said about how they write.
And I discovered 2 keys to their speed and quality:
- they separated writing and editing (more on this in a moment)
- they have strong processes & systems
My weak processes were damaging my writing.
The power of systems
Having a system seems the opposite of being creative.
But successful creators notice what works and automate it with a process. You realise being clear on your next task makes you productive. So you create a simple system. You outline tasks for the next day before going to sleep.
High-quality writing needs strong systems.
My editing process has made a remarkable difference. It produces articles twice as fast with a noticeable upgrade in quality.
I’m going to give you all the details of how I use it.
Because if you develop only one process — make it an editing one.
Editing will make your writing great
Writing doesn’t make an article great. Editing does.
You’d be appalled at the 1st draft of those you admire. It’s editing that makes their writing great.
Editing is a superpower. It doesn’t just fix errors but releases your message from the clutter. It refines ordinary words into dazzling jewels.
Stupidly I put off devising an editing process.
Now I can’t live without it.
My editing system
I have 4 stages in my writing process:
- decide the topic and main points
- draft the article
- reread and fix obvious errors
Stage 4 is my editing checklist.
I go through this process to fine-tune my writing.
a. Check the big picture
Firstly I step back from the details and check if the article works.
Key questions I ask:
- is this what the reader wants to read?
- do the main points follow each other?
- does it deliver on the promise of the title?
These are critical questions. It is easy to become so focused on the detail, that we lose the main message.
If I discover major problems, such as a section needs deleting. Then I go back to stage 3.
Once I am happy with the big picture I dive into the detail.
b. Polish the details
I examine the words and sentences.
To make my writing:
- shorter
- stronger
Shortening an article always improves it. Readers are impatient. If they have to wade through too much fluff they will click off. Be ruthless — your readers will thank you.
Delete fluff words — such as softeners (quite, just) and adverbs (very, nearly, often).
Delete sentences — check for sentences that repeat what has been said and those that don’t add any value
Shorten sentences- make your sentences sharper and more direct by making them shorter
Example:
It doesn’t make any difference what kind of coffee I have, or where it’s from, I need to have milk because I don’t like how the taste makes me feel, the bitterness makes me quite ill.
much better as:
I add milk to my coffee because the bitter taste makes me feel unwell.
I use a thesaurus to choose stronger words. Changing one word in a sentence can dramatically increase its power.
Take these alternatives to ‘improve’ and ‘new’. Swapping for some of these would strengthen your writing.
Improve:
- strengthen
- upgrade
- explode
- expand
- enrich
- refine
- boost
New:
- fresh
- unique
- radical
- original
- unusual
- inventive
Switching a word is an easy way to boost your writing
c. Apply my improvement tips
I get overwhelmed by all the writing advice I read.
But I want to become a great writer. So I use my editing process to prompt me to use what I’ve learned.
This will be personal to you. But here are the ideas I want to apply to my writing.
Strong intro
Without a captivating introduction, you lose your reader straight away.
Make sure you are clear on:
· why this article is for them
· how it helps them
And then get to the main point quickly.
Top & tail sentences
Having strong sexy sentences to start and end each section makes your article more powerful.
I spend a moment checking the start and end of every section.
- do I have a single sentence?
- can I make them stronger or clearer?
Scatter curiousity seeds
Teasing sentences keeps the reader reading. So I insert a few throughout my writing. For example…
- But there’s more…
- More on that later…
- What happened next shocked me
- I’m going to reveal what I discovered, but first…
Add article links
I’ve written before about using links to increase your earnings and views. I identify a few ways to add some subtle links.
Strengthen the title
I use these 2 questions to improve my headline:
- Can I make it more specific?
- Can I make the benefit to the reader stronger?
d. Al check
Finally, I run my article through Hemmingway and Grammarly.
Hemmingway is valuable for improving readability. It spots adverbs and complex sentences. Grammarly checks for spelling and grammar errors.
e. A moment of joy
Writing online is brutal.
Soon the metrics will cruelly judge your work. So this is a valuable last step for me. It protects my mental health and maintains my energy.
I take a moment to look at my creation. I give thanks for it and experience a moment of joy. I am a creator bringing something into being.
Then I click publish content my work is done.
So that’s it — my editing checklist:
a. Check the big picture
b. Polish the details
c. Apply my improvements tips
d. Hemingway & Grammarly
e. Appreciate your creation
Use these ideas to create your own checklist. It only takes me 15 minutes and improves my writing massively.
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