Write drunk, edit sober!
One very famous writer once proclaimed this. Hemingway, the master, certainly had his quirks. I tried it once, writing drunk, as a young journalist in my 20s. I had one wine too many at a “long lunch” back in my media days, went back to the office and punched out a few stories.
I came back the next day to gibberish and below-average journalism! I couldn’t understand anything of what I’d written “happy” the day before.
So it doesn’t work for me – and I don’t recommend it. In fact, no professional writer would and there’s plenty of evidence out there to suggest Ernest Hemingway actually never wrote drunk anyway! Google it.
Editing is a fine art and one you can absolutely learn over time. But sometimes it’s best to leave it to the professionals.
Tip No.1: Get a great editor on your content writing team!
Having an amazing editor on your content writing team will make sure your content is polished, professional and gets the right message out there.
Plus it’s important to have another set of eyes across your work as a reader because often times we are just too close to it to see our words how a reader would.
While it is hard to edit your own work, it’s not impossible, so I want to share with you some tips from one of our trusted editors that we have on the content writing team here at EC Writing Services, Dinah.
With this example, she was editing a client’s website content that they had written themselves. A lot of the time, people who want editing done by us also want to learn where they can improve and why we edited the way we did, so we leave them notes like this.
9 editing notes from our content editor to an actual client:
- Heading1 should suggest the topic and content of the writing, but should say it in a more creative or suggestive fashion, rather than simply stating outright. How can you introduce the topic in a way that makes your reader want to continue? What is it about your topics that you’re trying to reveal? Try to cap it at 10 words.
- Your first sentence is your lead sentence, which works best as a question, statistic, anecdote, interesting fact, or some sort of hook that brings in your reader and makes them want to continue.
- Content is easier for readers to consume when it’s broken down into smaller, shorter, and more succinct paragraphs. One to three sentences is usually ideal, otherwise they become overwhelmed with words. Keep sentences to 25-30 words.
- How can you naturally break up the text to take it from one or two long paragraphs, into a series of shorter pieces? Remember 1-2 sentences per paragraph.
- Just like the paragraphs, sentences also are easier for people to read when they’re shorter and more broken down. This improves SEO readability too.
- Simple, profound and impactful ideas can benefit from their own paragraph in isolation so readers can feel the impact of that statement. It makes strong sentences even stronger. But be sure to not overuse it!
- Sometimes it helps to read a piece aloud to yourself or have someone read it to you so you can hear your sentences. Do they sound natural? Do they sound correct in how they’re phrased?
- Check the grammar, spelling and punctuation. Spell check too.
- Finish with a strong, profound conclusion that hits home your main points and has a strong impact on your reader. Then add your call to action; direct your reader to act on those feelings you’ve just expressed your content. EG: Contact us today, so we can get you believing in YOU again.
Do you need content help?
Your content writing team: If you need a hand with your content, there are two ways we can help you: You can learn to write the content yourself through one of our courses, or we can write or edit the content for you.
- Yes, I would like to learn how to write content myself. {CLICK HERE}
- Yes, I would like you to edit the content I have already written. {CLICK HERE}
- Yes, I would like you to write our content for me (I don’t want to learn!). {CLICK HERE}
We are always here, as part of your content writing team, to help with your content writing needs and problems, so get in touch today. If you don’t know what you need help with, but you know you need help (it happens!) book a call and we can go through it.
Book a call here
