Editing is a crucial aspect of writing. To produce a stellar piece, a content writer may spend more time editing a document than they would in writing it. In my experience, writing a good business article requires 35% research and idea structuring effort, 25% writing effort, and 40% editing effort. Today I’m going to give you four content editing tips for improving any piece of content.
What is Editing?
As a content writer, editing involves improving the content written so that it appears seamless, both when one reads or hears the content. Typically, editing content can involve the following –
• Shortening sentences and paragraphs for succinctness.
• Rearranging paragraphs for readability flow.
• Minimizing the use of jargon and purple prose.
• Rearranging information across sections of your article.
• Assessing if there is a missing piece that you need to include.
• And checking for accuracy of grammar and punctuation.
Top- 4 Content Editing Tips
Here are four editing tips that will work for every type of content.
Editing Tip 1 – Use Grammarly Premium
Grammarly premium is a popular editing tool that allows you to improve content as per your writing goal and audience. When you paste content on Grammarly, it asks you to define the
• Audience (general or expert),
• Domain (business, creative or academic writing), and
• Intent (to describe, inform or tell a story?)
Once you specify the writing goals, Grammarly gives suggestions on how the content can be improved for clarity, delivery, and engagement. The premium version is $12 a month, which is paid annually. The app especially makes sense if you work alone and don’t have anyone else to edit your work.
Editing Tip 2 – MS Word Read Aloud Feature
Once you’ve written a document, click on the review tab on Microsoft Word, and on the left-hand side, you will see a ‘read aloud’ option; click on that to hear your content read aloud by the software. I’ve found that oftentimes ‘what the eyes missed, the ears will catch.’ You will invariably find grammatical slipups in a sentence or identify the scope for rearranging the content. If you don’t have the premium version of MS Word, which has the Read Aloud feature, download any reader app.
Editing Tip 3 – Switch the Reading Device
Sometimes you work on an article for a long time but don’t quite get it right. Reading what you have written can make you ‘blindsided’. One way to detect these blind spots is to read the content on another device.
For instance, I usually write content on my computer. If I’m not convinced that I’ve got the flow right, I read the article on my mobile. This has helped me often to identify the ways in which I can improve content.
Editing Tip 4 – Check on Copyscape for plagiarism
When you research content online, there is always a risk that the words go straight from what you have read to your article. To check if your content is plagiarism-free, use Copyscape premium. You can renew your Copyscape premium subscription for $10. You pay about $.10 cents for every 900 words verified.
So, there you have it- four simple content editing tips to help you create that near-perfect piece of content as a freelance writer.
Are you a freelancer writer? If so, what are your top two editing tips?
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