This morning, two different blog posts from two of my favorite blogs had the same message. Don’t be afraid of editing.
Sean D’Souza over at Copyblogger wrote about How to Stop Making Yourself Crazy with Self-Editing.
Write. Edit. Write. Edit. Edit. Edit. Edit. Write.
Does this sound familiar? If it doesn’t then you’re probably from Mars, because most of us drive ourselves crazy with self-editing when we write.
And the reason for that is our lack of competency.
Competency is a state of mind you reach when you’ve made enough mistakes that your brain can now move on.
That’s right. It’s not about getting things right in your brain — it’s about getting things wrong. The brain has to make hundreds, even thousands of mistakes — and overcome those mistakes — to be able to reach a level of competency.
Once the brain makes enough mistakes — and corrects them — it now has a database of information that it can call upon at any time. Your brain has now reached its level of competency in that field, be it walking, talking or writing.
Your brain can now self-edit on the fly.
Then, David A. Kennedy wrote about The First Step to Being a Better Writer at Fuel Your Writing.
Editing stands alone as the best way to make your writing better.
Editing your own writing can prove difficult, but the task becomes less intimidating once you employ a strategy.
He outlined three steps to this strategy:
- Back Away
- Ask if Your Mom Would Read This
- Find what matters most
Editing your own work is near impossible, but if you use these steps, it’ll become easier. You’ll find yourself churning out shorter and shorter pieces, and you’ll discover that you and your readers will be more engaged with what you’re writing.
So now you see. Editing is a vital part of writing, but one most writers dread. But now thanks to the advice given above, it will hopefully be much easier for all of us.
