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5 Tips For Writing More Productively During Your Editing and Revising Stage

20th April, 2010 - Posted by Meggin - No Comments

Writing is a recursive process. That is, you think, you write, you fix your writing, you think some more, you do a little research, you write more words, you edit, you get a good idea, and on it goes. Back and forth and around and around. There are times when you can just float around and take whatever time you need. However, most of us are under some kind of deadline and need to be as productive as possible when we write.

So, whether your deadline is internal or external, when you want to be more productive during the editing and revising stage, here are five useful tips:

Read through your manuscript for specific reasons (e.g., eliminate passive voice, check all pronoun referents, spelling, flow of ideas). If you are trying to edit for everything all at once, it is not only not efficient, but you are quite likely to miss some glaring problems and issues. Just choose one key area and read and edit for that particular area.

Read through the eyes of your audience. Since you are writing for someone else (and we hope, lots of someone elses!), imagine one of them reading what you have written. What would they be noticing and thinking about based on what you have written. Use this tip when revising because it will give you ideas you wouldn’t have thought of…without your audience.

If you have to read a sentence a second time, fix it. My major advisor in graduate school taught me that and she was so right. Make it a guideline that any sentence you have to make a second pass over to make sure it makes sense is one that needs to be revised. And ask those who are helping you edit and revise to use that same guideline when giving you feedback.

Check for consistency, e.g., headings, subheadings. For those who write informational (non-fiction), it is easy to forget this type of consistency. If you are writing academic text, then you REALLY have to pay attention to consistency and adherence to whatever style guide is being used (e.g., APA, MLA, and the like). If you know you are not a stickler for details, then get help with someone who knows and attends to the style that you need.

Separate editing and composing. They are two different aspects of writing and you slow yourself down if you are intermingling them. Have times for composing and separate times for editing or revising.

Why not be more productive with your writing? Just by attending to these five ideas, you can increase your overall productivity. Put one of them in place today. I suggest you open up a document…right now!

And for scores of sets of Top Ten Productivity Tips for Writers, you’re invited to join others around the globe who subscribe (free) to the Top Ten Productivity Tips for Writers:

** http://TopTenProductivityTipsforWriters.com

(c) 2010 Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D. | The Ph.D. of Productivity(tm)