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Hello Reader,

No, you're not dreaming! It's really a love note from Writerlize!

Is it too late to wish you a happy new year since this is our first newsletter this year? I've missed writing to you! As always, I can't wait to deliver the right strategies and guidance you need to build a solid writing career, so let's get into it.

In today's newsletter, I'll share the exact checklist my team and I use to self-edit the content we write for clients (consider it my Valentine's Day gift to you). Thanks to this checklist, we've significantly reduced the revisions our clients make when we submit articles.

The checklist also makes it easier for our editors to work on our projects and maintain a high standard of excellence every time!

I can guarantee you'll find it useful, so I suggest you keep reading!

What Is Self-Editing?

Self-editing is a common term in the writing industry. Several job postings include it in their necessary skills. But I've found that many writers often assume they already know what it means. I mean, there's no difference between self-editing and proofreading, right?

Wrong!

Proofreading and self-editing are similar but not the same. Self-editing is when you review your work for:

• Grammar
• Flow
• Punctuation
• Consistency
• Clarity, etc.

It usually involves fact-checking as well as ensuring that your work follows your client's outline.

On the other hand, proofreading only requires checking for grammar and spelling errors. Hence, it's safe to say that self-editing includes proofreading, but proofreading doesn't include self-editing.

Why Should You Self-Edit Your Work?

One of the most common questions people ask me as a writing coach is,

I mean, if you already have an editor who will review your work, do you still need to self-edit? Let me ask you this:

Should a chef do a taste test to see what their food tastes like before serving it to guests?

I can imagine your answer is YES!

Just like you wouldn't want a chef to mess up your eating experience with tasteless food, you also shouldn't mar your readers' experience when you "cook up" articles. Self-edit your work before submission for the following reasons:

1. Professionalism: Self-editing makes your work look more professional to your client/editor. It demonstrates your commitment to excellence and professionalism
2. Credibility: A vital part of self-editing is fact-checking. Proper fact-checking lends credibility to your content. Also, a well-edited work demonstrates a level of credibility.
3. Engagement: One of the major things to look out for while editing is the flow of the sentences. A well-edited work is easy to read and understand, which improves reader engagement.
4. Clarity: Self-editing improves the clarity of your work, making it concise and easy to understand.
5. Save Time: Self-editing reduces the back-and-forth between editors and writers. Proper self-editing makes it easier and faster for your editor to review your work. It also minimizes the feedback you get from your editor.

How to Self-Edit Your Work

There's no one-size-fits-all approach to self-editing. However, there are a few things you should look out for when editing your work.

Structure: Review your article's overall look and flow. Your content should have a definitive flow that is easy to follow. Ask yourself, Do your main points flow logically? Are your ideas properly articulated? Do you have a strong introduction? Does your conclusion wrap things up effectively?

Spelling and Grammar: Check that there are no grammatical or spelling errors in your work. There are several free tools you can use to achieve this. A personal favorite is Grammarly. The free version can help you catch spelling errors and correct your grammar just like this:

Clarity and Engagement: Clarity is your ability to articulate and communicate your ideas, while engagement is the ability to keep your readers' attention. Look out for redundant words like unnecessary adverbs.

For example, replace very happy with ecstatic; really cold with freezing; and so on. You also want to break up large blocks of text and ensure your sentences and paragraphs are not too large.

For example, you'll observe that this newsletter is broken down into paragraphs of three to four sentences to enhance your reading experience.

Fact-Checking: You also want to ensure that you've got all the facts right. In a previous newsletter, I highlighted that the major difference between a creative writer and a content writer is that a content writer writes facts, not fiction.

So, you must get your facts right. Cross-check dates, definitions, values, and every other fact mentioned in your article.

Tone and Voice: Every brand has a brand tone and voice. You need to make sure that the tone of your content aligns with that of your client. Do you want to sound friendly and sympathetic or formal and authoritative?

Readability: Check your sentence structure. Check for sentence and paragraph length and also flow.

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Now, there's only so much I can share in a newsletter. So, I created the Self-Editing Checklist for content writers and am sharing it with you for free. Download it here.

That's it for today, Reader.

When you try out this checklist, let me know what you think. As usual, you can reach me by replying to this email or leaving a comment on Instagram. I always read responses and can't wait to hear from you.

Till next time 😊

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