How to self-edit?

Even the most experienced writers acknowledge that a good editor can improve their work, but ultimately the writing is theirs, and they will want to craft it to the best of their ability themselves. That is why self-editing is a vital part of the writing process.

It is much easier to see the flaws in other people’s work than in your own, so it’s essential to put some distance between yourself and your work, and to read it as if it had been written by someone else. Put it aside for a few days or even, if your schedule will allow, for a few weeks.

Read your work aloud, slowly. If a sentence trips you up, it isn’t working. Be alert – and honest with yourself – when you find yourself skimming over a passage. If it isn’t holding your attention, it is unlikely to hold anyone else’s.

Aim to make your point as clearly and economically as possible. Look at every word and ask if it is earning its keep. Why is it there? Will the meaning be conveyed just as effectively without it? Delete words, sentences and even whole paragraphs, if necessary.

Samuel Johnson put it bluntly: “Read over your compositions, and where ever you meet with a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.” William Faulkner expressed it more brutally still: “Kill your darlings.” That fine sentence, however elegant in itself, may unbalance a piece of writing, and a writer’s attachment to a particular turn of phrase may prevent them from being objective and seeing that it obscures the point they are trying to make.

George Orwell’s advice in his essay “Politics and the English Language” is as relevant today as when it was first published in 1946:

(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

(ii) Never us a long word where a short one will do.

(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.

(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

(vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

If you are writing a work of fiction, always keep in mind the narrative point of view. Who is telling this story – and to whom are they telling it? Remember the R.U.E. rule: Resist the Urge to Explain. Show a character’s emotions through his or her speech or actions rather than telling the reader how they feel. Do not load dialogue with explanation aimed at the reader: always remember who is speaking to whom, and why.

Pay especial attention to adjectives. Have you used two when one will do? Less is more. One telling adjective will grasp the reader’s attention more effectively, and convey the meaning more forcefully, than several imprecise ones that circle their object without ever quite pinning it down. Beware of adverbs – they tell rather than show. If you strengthen the verb, you can often eliminate the adverb altogether: “He swept from the room” is much more effective than “Angrily, he left the room.”

Avoid jargon and clichés: those ready-made phrases are a substitute for really seeing and describing what you see. ‘The azure sky…’ Who knows what azure actually looks like? And is the sky ever really that color outside of books?

Self-editing is hard because it demands that a writer look at their own work objectively. It is worthwhile because it not only improves the writing, but also improves the writer. By becoming aware of one’s own flaws, one learns to avoid them; and by understanding how to write economically and effectively, one begins to make a habit of it.