Before publishing anything you write, it’s important to review it to ensure it is clear and concise. It’s not about length–long blog posts and articles always have their place. Rather, it’s about trimming excess words to ensure nothing is getting in the way of your message. Here are a few tips:
- Always start by making a copy of your document. It’s important to maintain the original. You never know when you might want a particular paragraph or sentence back. It could even hit you a day or two later; at that point, “undo” won’t get back what you had.
- Read out loud. I recommend reading aloud to catch mistakes when proofreading, but it also works great when evaluating your content for extraneous bits. Imagine you are delivering your blog post or article as a speech. If you sense you’ve lost the plot or feel like you’re repeating yourself or spending a little too long on a topic, it’s time to make some cuts. Be merciless. You have your original to fall back on, so you can cut deep here.
- Tighten up long, winding sentences. As you read aloud, you will probably notice if something sounds clunky and unfocused. To simplify your sentences, consider using the Paramedic Method. The TL;DR of this method: if you can swap out phrases like “owing to the fact that” for “because,” or “making use of” for “use”, you probably should. (In the world of fiction writing things might be different but for business communications, brevity and clarity are usually best.)
- Use links. If you need to add a bit more detail as a sidebar or to help define concepts or terms, consider adding links so people who need that information can find it but those who don’t will not get lost in the weeds of an explanation.
And a couple of final points to consider before you send your post out into the world:
- Take some time before you decide on the final cut. Compare the original to the edited version to see which one you like best, then make any final changes before publishing. But be sure to do this review with fresh eyes. Waiting at least an hour, preferably longer, is best. You are more likely to notice issues if you’ve had a long break between writing and reviewing.
- Even after you publish, hang onto your original and any of the parts you cut. Sometimes the excess you cut isn’t waste but the kernel of an idea you can spin into another article or post.
Photo of scissors by Margaret Jaszowska on Unsplash.
Category: Editing