Writing Grit: The Five-Minute Edit

Editing can make a tremendous difference to the quality of your writing. But, depending on the length and nature of your work, completing a full edit can take a considerable amount of time. So what should you do if you only have a few minutes before you hit Submit?

A five-minute edit.

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Before you begin …

By the time they've reached the editing stage, most writers are so familiar with their work and what they want to say that they are physically unable to separate the words in their head from the words that are on the page or screen. It's why we can read sentences like this:

7H15 M3554G3 PR0V35 0UR M1ND5 C4N D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5!

Our minds automatically fill in the blanks with what the text should say, not what it actually says. This is why it is so difficult for writers to edit their own work, and why -- whenever possible -- you should have someone else read over your writing and mark areas that need correction or clarification.

However, if this isn't possible, here are a few things you can do to help you spot your own writing mistakes:

• Read your writing out loud, slowly.
• Start at the end and review your work in reverse.
• Give your writing room to breath. Leave it alone for an hour, a day, or a week before you edit it.
• Take advantage of some of the built-in editing tools in your writing software. For example, if using Microsoft Word, you can check for spelling and grammatical errors, paragraph structure and flow, and readability.

Note: Editing tools can help, but they won't catch all errors.

The Five-Minute Edit

I attended a course called Triage Editing by Teresa Schmedding, where she compared editing to working in an emergency room. In both cases, you need to be able to quickly assess the situation and identify what to fix first; you don't want to waste time on a papercut, or even a broken leg, if your patient is bleeding profusely from his neck.

Courtesy of GraphicStock.com

Time and resources will play a big role in your decision and there may be occasions where you don't have enough of either to fix the mistakes that need to be fixed. In this case, your best bet may be to pull the plug on the piece, at least for the time being.

But if you only have five minutes, and if your piece absolutely must be published (i.e. hardfork 19 was just released and you want to take advantage of the upvote pandemonium), then here are the mistakes you should fix first.

1. Errors that will cost you money or damage your reputation

Does your work contain any errors that will cost you money (i.e. loss of business, lawsuit) or irreparably damage your reputation? If so, fix them now! This is particularly important when posting content to Steemit, where it is forever preserved on the blockchain, because you won't be able to go back and undo the damage or cover your tracks later.

2. Spelling and grammar mistakes

These might not seem like a big deal, but people notice them. And while most people might let one or two spelling mistakes go, if you have too many, it starts to affect your credibility. Your readers may start to question why they should trust your work: If you can't take the time to correct a spelling mistake, then maybe you didn't take the time to check your facts or do your research?

Also, these types of errors are distracting. You want your readers to focus on your message, not the fact that you wrote your instead of you're or used "Facebook" as a verb.

3. Openings and closings

Does your piece have an attention-grabbing and accurate title? Are you opening with the most important or interesting information? Does the order of your paragraphs make sense? Do you have a strong ending?

If you only have a few minutes, spend it on the first and last paragraphs of your work as these are likely the pieces that your reader will remember most.

4. Visual inconsistencies

Although we may not like to admit it, first impressions matter, a lot. People judge books by their covers all the time. In fact, the visual appearance of your writing -- whether it's a research paper, news article or Steemit post -- has a huge impact on how your readers view your work -- or if they bother to read it at all.

It's important to take time to correct things that affect visual appearance, including:

• inconsistent heading sizes
• text font and colour
• image size, placement and alignment
• bulleted lists
• appropriate use of white space

5. Errors that affect readability and energy

If you have time, tighten up your writing by fixing or removing lengthy sentences and words, repetition, unnecessary phrases and passive language. These things can sap the energy from your writing and make it harder for the reader to understand your message. I'll describe how to do this in more detail in a future post. Stay tuned!

Were you distracted by any errors in this post? What is the number one thing you look for in a post before you hit Submit?

If you enjoyed this post, resteem, upvote and follow @redhens. Check out some of my other recent posts, including:

• How to use Square-Foot Gardening to Boost Crop Production
• Writing Grit: Passive vs. Active Voice
• Catching a Thief in the Act
• Control Your Narrative, Control Your Life