How to Self-Edit Your Articles

A most important part of writing is rewriting. For rewriting you need to know how to self-edit. Of course, you can ask others to edit and proofread your writing. But you should also know how to do this yourself, and you should also have a checklist for your own self-editing.

Content

This type of editing is called "content editing." When you rewrite editing for content, you must decide whether or not the content is appropriate and sufficient for the article that you're writing. Suppose, for example, you're writing an article on container gardener. Then you review the article to find out if all the content you need to have on this subject is appropriate and sufficient. Is the content appropriate for the audience that you're writing for? For example, are the people you are writing for beginners? Then you have a have content appropriate for beginners? Also, have you provided your audience with enough information? Are there any additional details that you need to have? For content editing, you can also include additonal research that you might need to do to improve the content of your article. Do you make use of the appropriate emphasis? What content needs to be emphasized? What details are important? What details are unimportant?

Language and usage

Here you reread your article for language. You've already edited the content--adding information or deleting information that's not necessary. However, now you're rereading for language and usage. You can also reread aloud. Sometimes when you reread writing aloud, you hear things that you don't hear when you're reading in the traditonal manner. What do you hear? As you read you can edit the language and usage. What about the use of active vs. passive voice? Are you using passive voice when active would be better? Should you address the reader directly using "you."? What about verbage? Are you using too many words when you could be more economical? Or are you being too economical and the reader needs more information, more details? How does the work sound? Can you improve the sound of your sentences? For instance, in the previous sentence, do you want the alliteration? Can you improve the sound of your article? For this rewriting, you're rereading for language and usage in general. Also, check the variety and length of sentences, the types of sentences. Make sure that your writing is clear. And check the transitions between sentences and paragraphs. Make sure you do not overwrite. Grammar

Now you reread for the specifics of grammar. Noun and verb agreement, etc. You should have a good grammar book or a good dictionary that has a grammar section. Read through your sentences to make sure of your grammar. Here you revise sentence by sentence. You look at all the sentences. You check for the grammar. If you're not sure about the grammar, then check the grammar book or the grammar section of your dictionary.

Review your use of adverbs and adjectives. Review your syntax. What of punctuation?

Have you misused any words or phrases?

Vocabulary

Reread for generally vocabulary. If you're writing a Google Adsense article, then have a list of the top google adsense words. Integrate these into your article where and when appropriate.

Spelling

Check your spelling and make sure that all the words are correctly spelled. If you have a spell checker then make use of this. Even then, you should reread all the words yourself and make sure they are correctly spelled. If you're not sure about the spelling of a word, then check your dictionary.

Style

Reread and revise for general style. Is your style appropriate to the type of article that you are writing? Get a good manual of style.

If you're a freelance writer, you should learn how to self-edit. You should also have reference guides as part of your writer's library. Some good reference guides for freelance writers can be found at this website:

http://freelancewrite.about.com/od/writingrewritingstyle/tp/referenceguides.htm

For free online reference books, which include dictionary, grammar, thesaurus, style guides, and encyclopedias:

www.thefreedictionary.com
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/
thesaurus.reference.com
http://www.aresearchguide.com/styleguides.html
en.wikipedia.org
www.encyclopedia.com
encarta.msn.com

Also, here you can find another article on how to self-edit and revise:

http://freelancewrite.about.com/od/writingrewritingstyle/ht/selfedit.htm

For other recommended websites on self-editing:

http://www.fictionfactor.com/selfediting.html
home.earthlink.net/~jdc24/selfEdit.htm

For freelance writing jobs online, we recommend:

http://qwer.org/freelancewriters

Recommended books on self-editing

Self-editing for Fiction Writers
Line by Line

Available from
The Book Store
http://thebookstore.vstoremarket.com/index.htm

The Book Store books available at up to 30% or more discount.