A Foolproof Editing Checklist to Take Your Work from 0 to 100
You've just finished writing a blog post, sweat pouring from your brow much as words poured from your fingertips a second ago.
You're about to press publish when suddenly… a small, niggling voice pipes up in your mind.
“You should probably proofread that, at least…” the voice says snidely.
You resist. Your writing feels good! Or at least, good enough to send. Why bother with the whole editing bit?
The voice is correct. Although many people think writing is the hard part, the toughest part of any writing process is the editing. Editing is what takes your writing from good to great.
If you're an academic, editing will help polish your work and make it more professional.
If you're a blogger, editing will help you earn more trust with your readers.
If you're into creative writing, editing helps you carve out motivations, characterizations, and tell a better story.
I'll break down exactly how I recommend incorporating editing into your writing process.
Understanding the Basics of Writing and Editing
Let's start by explaining the stages of the writing process. Though many people think the process is simply: write → publish, it's a little more complex than that.
Prewriting (Brainstorming)
Gather and organize your thoughts. Understand the assignment or purpose, consider your audience, and come up with ideas. Techniques like free writing, clustering, and mind mapping can be useful here.
Drafting
Once you have your ideas, you start to put them into sentences and paragraphs. This is where you write your first version or rough draft. It doesn't have to be perfect; the main goal is to get your ideas down on paper.
Revising
Here, you rethink and reorganize your paper. You might rearrange sections, add or delete paragraphs, clarify ideas, and ensure that your argument is well structured and supported. The focus is on clarity and meaning.
Editing
Refine your draft by fixing grammar, punctuation, spelling, and other mechanical errors. You might also look at sentence structure, word choice, and consistency in style and tone. This is where you polish your work.
Proofreading
This is the final check before you consider your piece complete. You're looking for any last-minute errors or typos that might have been missed during the editing stage. It's often helpful to read the paper aloud or have someone else review it.
Publishing (or Sharing)
Finally, once you're satisfied with your work, you share it with your intended audience. This could mean turning it in to a teacher, posting it on a blog, submitting it to a journal, or any other way of making your writing public.
This isn't a linear process all the time. Sometimes you'll be editing and realize you need to go back to the revision portion, or even back to brainstorming. You may also find yourself proofreading as you write, instead of at the end.
Writing for students in high school is slightly different to writing in academic settings – high school writing is more about foundational skills like clear sentences and organized thoughts. Academic writing requires specialized knowledge, critical analysis, and adherence to specific formats. Keep those standards in mind when editing your work.
Key Elements to Check in Your Writing
This is a bit labor intensive, but the best way to go through your piece and make sure it's perfect is by taking each section and sentence and making sure it fits and flows perfectly.
Here are some of the biggest issues to tick off your list:
Check for complete sentences – no sentence fragment allowed.
Example: "Because I like to read."
Corrected: "I like to read."
Ensure each body paragraph has a topic sentence.
Example: "It's a popular sport. Many people love soccer because it's exciting and unites fans globally."
Corrected: "Soccer is beloved worldwide for its excitement and ability to unite fans."
Ensure each sentence conveys clear ideas.
Example: "She went to the place with the thing for that stuff."
Corrected: "She went to the library to borrow a book."
Avoid the passive voice – go for active voice.
Example: "The cake was eaten by him."
Corrected: "He ate the cake."
Scrutinize your word choice to convey the right message.
Example: “She talked really bad.”
Corrected: "She spoke inappropriately."
Check for grammatical errors, grammar mistakes, and proper grammar.
Example: "She don't like chocolate."
Corrected: "She doesn't like chocolate."
Check for common spelling pitfalls.
Example: "I have a reciept."
Corrected: "I have a receipt."
Check punctuation, including exclamation marks and proper punctuation.
Example: "Its raining outside, isn't it!"
Corrected: "It's raining outside, isn't it?"
Avoid unnecessary words, filler words, and long sentences.
Example: "I just really think that, you know, maybe we should, like, consider going to the store or something."
Corrected: "Maybe we should go to the store."
Ensure proper capitalization. Each proper noun gets a capital letter.
Example: "i love paris in the springtime."
Corrected: “I love Paris in the springtime.”
Make your content interesting.
Example: "The Renaissance was an important time in history."
Corrected: “The Renaissance, a vibrant period of rebirth, profoundly influenced art, science, and thought.”
Advanced Editing Techniques
When you're ready to go a step further, there are a few final i's to dot and t's to cross to finalize your editing, both for students and professionals. These are a bit more big picture.
Use body paragraphs to structure your writing.
You want to ensure that each paragraph has a point, and that everything in that paragraph supports your main point.
Sometimes on tricky pieces, I will print out my article, highlight my main point, and cross out any sentences that don't directly strengthen my main point.
You also need to understand the role of each phrase, word, and paragraph in enhancing readability.
Short, clear sentences and paragraphs make content more scannable, especially online.
Transition words help guide readers through an argument or narrative, and varied sentence structures can maintain reader interest.
You should also think of editing skills not just as a checklist, but also as a way to improve your writing skill.
As you consistently edit and refine your work, you begin to internalize the principles of good writing.
Over time, you'll notice that you start avoiding common mistakes you used to make in your first drafts. It's very satisfying.
Formatting and Style
A boring but necessary item on any checklist for editing – make sure you're following the rules. Especially relevant for students, your teacher has probably assigned you MLA style or APA style. Students and professionals alike will have to adhere to font regulations, too.
Double check you're in Times New Roman, if that's what the assignment calls for. It's really annoying to get docked points for a simple format mistake.
Curious about the best Microsoft fonts? Read here.
Resources for Effective Editing
Where to begin? Don't worry, you're not starting from a blank slate. There are tons of online resources and tools for editing. (Almost all of these are all free – I know what students' and freelancers budgets are like!)
Grammarly. It's a free Chrome extension, powered by AI, that finds spelling issues, grammar mistakes, but also can go into clarity and where to cut unnecessary words. Perfect for students, veteran marketers, and everyone in between.
ProWritingAid. This AI editor does a similar job – it will correct your misspellings, simplify jargon, and help trim your writing to be more concise.
Hemingway Editor. This resource is a free app that is all about picking out common writing issues, like if your sentences are too complex, or if you've got a lot of passive voice.
Readable is a great resource for giving you a sense of the reading level, either the well-known Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level or another metric. Great for students.
OneLook Thesaurus. This will solve your overused word problem. Not only does it work as a traditional thesaurus, it's also good for finding that word that you can't quite remember.
Students bonus: Your local writing center. Most colleges will have a center dedicated to helping you write. Here's a sample of what UMass Boston's will give you: “We offer individual writing consultations in person and online where we work collaboratively with writers and provide feedback on any writing, from class essays to cover letters to theses and dissertations to manuscripts for publication and anything in between.” Pretty great resource, huh?
Your friendly peer editor. If you're really stuck in the editing process, I recommend asking one of your fellow students or peers very nicely – or even hiring a professional – to give your piece a once-over.
Final thoughts on this checklist
Running your piece through a checklist like this one is the best way to polish your article. It gives you a sense of professional pride. For students, it's a good way to keep grades up or just feel like your assignment is done.
My last three piece of advice:
Read it out loud. This is the fastest, cheapest, and best way to edit. You'll find stale sentences, missing commas, boring bits, and forgotten clauses.
If you can, print it and read it on a physical copy. Especially for students submitting an assignment, changing the format can really help your eye spot hidden errors.
Have fun. Editing can feel like a drag, but I like to gamify it a bit with this kind of checklist. Remember, you're skilling up, like a video game character. Do your best and enjoy the process.
