Eight Editing Tricks to Improve Your Online Writing Skills

Editing your own work can be difficult, but not editing it can be disastrous. Web content is highly criticized, widely read, and can make or break your website's first impression on a reader. Authors who don't take the time for simple editing lose credibility and return visitors to their sites. Keep the following in mind when editing your work:

Spelling and grammar

Microsoft Word has an excellent spelling and grammar checking utility, but it is no substitute for human eyes. Don't let yourself become over-reliant on automated spell-checkers and grammar checkers because they are prone to mistakes. The rapidly evolving English language is complicated and it is impossible for a machine to be as adept as a human editor at finding errors.

Read your work to yourself as you write

Try to approach your own work as though you had never seen it before. Putting yourself in this state of mind will help expand the scope of your writing and make it more accessible to the reader.

Read your work out loud

Once it's written, take a few moments and read it aloud word for word. Pause and stop at all the appropriate punctuation marks. Make quotation gestures if your writing contains a quote and listen to yourself as you read. If your writing doesn't make sense when you say it out loud, it won't make sense to your reader.

Walk away from your writing before you edit

It's difficult to detach yourself once you've become immersed in your own work. Mistakes that others would spot easily can be difficult for a writer to see as they develop their piece. After you've finished writing, walk away for a few hours or a few days. The time apart will give you a new perspective and can often lead to new ideas and inspiration for additional details.

Give your work to someone else

Find a trusted friend, co-worker, or family member with a talent for editing to honestly critique your work. Consider their past efforts and choose a partner who produces a level of quality in their own work that you aspire to. Avoid editors who are afraid to pass judgment - nothing is ever perfect and if your editor can't find something to change, they're not doing their job.

Avoid overuse of the same word

If you use an identical verb, adjective or noun more than once in three sentences, buy a thesaurus. Writing content for the internet means dozens or thousands of readers will view your work. It is your job to keep them entertained, and using the same adjective over and over just won't cut it.

Avoid unnecessary padding in your writing

The internet is fast paced and most readers aren't interested in wasting time. Resist the urge to add fluff to your piece to make it more impressive.

Don't use unfamiliar punctuation

If you don't know how to use a certain type of punctuation, don't include it in your writing. Better yet, research its proper usage and ensure you understand it before including it in your work. Fancy punctuation for its own sake confuses readers and misused punctuation turns them off.