Why Is Editing Your Work Important?

If you do any writing for your job or business, you need to read this. Editing is an important step in the writing process, and it’s more than checking for typos. A lot more because of what’s at stake.

Editing can prevent the awkward situations that result from typos, and it can prevent confusion from a poorly worded message. Here are four reasons why you need to edit or hire an editor to check your work.

Professionalism

Editing is a key step in maintaining your professionalism. A quick review doesn’t take long, and it saves potential embarrassment and heartache.

For example, if you’re sending a text for work, take an extra second to reread your message. Check your phone didn’t try to surprise you with autocorrect. Anyone who has used a smartphone long enough has likely experienced an unusual autocorrect suggestion.

When writing emails, check that you’ve spelled the recipient’s name correctly. You don’t like it when people get your name wrong, so treat others with that in mind!

The other party might be able to guess your meaning when you skip a word. Still, in a case like “I will finish by tomorrow” and “I will not finish by tomorrow,” you have a completely different meaning.

Editing your work can includes checking what you do. I once saw a section on a website that looked like internal notes to team members – and someone had accidentally hit “publish publically”.

Clarify Meaning

It’s clear in your mind what you want to say. Asking a coworker or taking a break before rereading your own work can make a huge difference. You may find that your writing isn’t as straightforward as you thought it was.

Getting someone else to read your work can give you valuable insight. They may ask questions that make you realize you left out details or your meaning wasn’t clear. Or they may have suggestions about how to write something more concisely. Why take fifty words to say something that you can express in thirty?

When you read your own work aloud, you might realize that you are wordy. You might discover that you need more commas to break up chunks of text in a sentence. Or you might decide that you have a sentence that goes on forever and you need to add a period before you pass out from lack of oxygen.

Important Details

Take the time to check over important details before publishing a report or sending an email. A simple typo could send your client to the wrong address, or invite a colleague to attend a meeting at the wrong time.

Numbers can be boring to check, but they are worth reviewing. For example, suppose you have completed several calculations. You’re typing up a table of numbers or copying a bunch of monetary totals as part of a project proposal. Double check your numbers. You don’t want your proposal to be saying that you can do the project for $1000 when your team quoted $10000 for the job!

New ideas

Having someone edit or check over your work is the same as getting a fresh pair of eyes. You’ll see your work from a new perspective. Your coworker could provide you with suggestions on a more engaging way to word your email.

A colleague could provide you with ideas for another way to present your information. For example, taking a paragraph of statistics and presenting it as a graph or colourful infographic.

Key Takeaways

It is worth taking the time to double check your work. You could be saving yourself the embarrassment of a costly typo. You could gain insight into writing in a more appealing way to your audience. Be open to learning from mistakes and learning new ways to write.

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4 Tips to Overcome Book Writing Obstacles

These days, writing a book has become more popular than before: People write books as a way to promote their business. Self-publishing has made it easier to share your story.

But it’s easier to start a book than to finish it, as many people have discovered. According to the internet, a staggering 97% of people who start writing a book never finish.

Plenty of reasons abound for not finishing a book. This post will cover the more common reasons and share some suggestions on overcoming these obstacles.

Not enough time to write a book

It’s tough to commit time to write a book. You’ve got all the distractions of daily life, not to mention unexpected situations like finding out you’re out of the chocolate you munch on for inspiration.

Self-discipline is key. Set a daily goal, such as writing a couple of hours a day, or a certain number of pages per day.

Don’t worry about quality. Just write, and let the ideas flow. Sometimes you need to bunch of unnecessary words to get to the words you want to keep. You can edit your work later.

Fresh out of ideas or momentum

It’s easy to have ideas for a book. It’s harder to develop them into a story or a book.

Maybe you want to write about the adventures of a talking frog. You finish the chapter about the frog wandering into the city and get stuck explaining how a human and a frog become friends. It’s time to pause and map out your plot.

You may find reasons to stop writing.

For example, you discover that since you started writing your book, your topic has become popular. The market is now saturated with books and blogs about the subject. It’s time to pause and research the market and your competitors. What will make your book unique from all the others now out there?

You hate writing

Okay, this is a big problem. You want to write a book because you have a lot of thoughts you want to write down.

Many people, particularly influencers and entrepreneurs, are writing books so you want to jump on the trend and write one too. Or you have this story you want to tell, and writing a book is the best way to share it.

One solution is to hire a ghostwriter. Experienced ghostwriters can capture your voice and style and write your book for you at a cost. Another possibility is to avoid writing altogether. Do you prefer to talk more than write? You could record your story as an audiobook instead.

You suck at writing

You love books and you love to read, but unfortunately, putting words in the right order just isn’t your thing.

Fortunately, writing – like any skill – can be improved over time.

The quick fix… write all your ideas down. Then hire a ghostwriter to write the story for you. Or, write the story as best you can, fix it up with a program like Grammarly (which can catch your typos and grammar mistakes), and hire an editor to polish your writing.

This is important: bad grammar and writing can ruin a good story. An editor can improve your writing and make suggestions you haven’t thought about.

You can also go for the long-term solution. You might write terribly now, but that might not be true forever. Take some writing lessons. Read anything by your favorite authors. Learn to write like them, and then develop your own writing style. When you’re ready, start writing your book.

Key Takeaways

Many people start writing a book with gusto and enthusiasm, but never reach their goal. Even if you face an overwhelming obstacle, such as bad writing skills, you can overcome that obstacle when you’re open to solutions.

If you want to write a book, and you’re determined enough, you can become an author!

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How to Write a Book: Video Lessons to Learn From

How many people do you know who have said, “I want to write a book”? Maybe writing a book is your goal. But ask anyone who has written a book, and they will tell you that writing a book from start to finish is not an easy feat. Don’t give up, though!

Here are some video lessons you should watch with tips from famous and successful writers on getting started on your book.

Stephen King on developing story ideas

Even if you’re not a fan of horror fiction, Stephen King is an author whose success is worth reading about. He’s published over 60 novels and 200 short stories and received multiple awards.

“Go where the story leads you,” he advises. Follow the story and the characters, and eventually you will have a book. Here are some of his other tips on writing a book and getting that story told.

  • Writing is self-taught. Read a lot. You’ll pick up more about narration by copying the style of writers you admire. Later, you will develop your own style.
  • Start with short stories and develop them into novels later on.
  • Write about something you really enjoy because you will be spending a lot of time developing that idea. Don’t worry about what your audience will like.
  • How to finish a book quickly: work three to four hours a day and write six pages.
  • Don’t be discouraged if your story is rejected.

For more writing advice from Stephen King, check out this video.

George R. R. Martin on world building and character development

If you’ve heard of Game of Thrones, then you know of George R. R. Martin’s work. His epic fantasy novels were adapted into the award-winning TV series. To writers looking for advice on what they should write, he says that writers should “write the stories that excite them, that interest them.”

He has many other tips for writers still working on their first book or first masterpiece:

  • Take a character and put them through a crisis. One way is to take something or someone a character loves and tear it away from them.
  • All fiction (literary fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and history) is more believable if you have real characters dealing with real problems.
  • When world building, keep track of details by making a list. For example, make a list of the characters, such as the kings mentioned in the story. Or draw a map of the world you are creating. When you are writing about your world, describe the scenes in detail. You want your readers to taste the food the characters are eating.
  • A writer is like an architect and a gardener. The writer knows the materials of the building and how many storeys the building has. The writer is also a gardener who plants the seed and knows what will come out of the soil. It would be surprising if you plant a potato and a geranium grows.
  • Scriptwriting helps for writing effective dialogue. Good dialogue has a lot of back and forth; it’s not a person making a long speech. When you finish writing, read your work aloud. You’ll find that what you write might not sound as good when you say it aloud.
  • Writing a book is like throwing dice. You don’t know if your work will succeed or fail. A real writer will write the book whether it sells or not.

For more writing advice from George R.R. Martin, check out this video.

Key Takeaways

Write a story or novel that interests you, without considering whether your audience will be interested in what you write. Writing a book is a skill that takes time to develop well, and if you’re open to learning from accomplished authors, you’ll pick up some great tips for honing your craft.

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