5 Editors Secrets To Help You Write Like A Pro

5 editor’s secrets to help you write like a pro

1. Sentences can only do one thing at a time.

Have you ever heard a four-year-old run out of breath before she can finish her thought? I edit a lot of sentences that work the same way. You need a noun, you need a verb, you might need an object. Give some serious thought to stopping right there.

Sentences are building blocks, not bungee cords; they’re not meant to be stretched to the limit. I’m not saying you necessarily want a Hemingway-esque series of clipped short sentences, but most writers benefit from dividing their longest sentences into shorter, more muscular ones.

2. Paragraphs can only do one thing at a time.

A paragraph supports a single idea. Construct complex arguments by combining simple ideas that follow logically. Every time you address a new idea, add a line break. Short paragraphs are the most readable; few should be more than three or four sentences long. This is more important if you’re writing for the Web.

3. Look closely at -ing

Nouns ending in -ing are fine. (Strong writing, IT consulting, great fishing.) But constructions like “I am running,” “a forum for building consensus,” or “The new team will be managing” are inherently weak. Rewrite them to “I run,” “a forum to build consensus,” and “the team will manage.” You’re on the right track when the rewrite has fewer words (see below).

(If for some insane reason you want to get all geeky about this, you can read the Wikipedia article on gerunds and present participles. But you don’t have to know the underlying grammatical rules to make this work. Rewrite -ing when you can, and your writing will grow muscles you didn’t know it had.)

4. Omit unnecessary words.

I know we all heard this in high school, but we weren’t listening. (Mostly because it’s hard.) It’s doubly hard when you’re editing your own writing—we put all that work into getting words onto the page, and by god we need a damned good reason to get rid of them.

Here’s your damned good reason: extra words drain life from your work. The fewer words used to express an idea, the more punch it has. Therefore:

Summer months Regional level The entire country On a daily basis (usually best rewritten to “every day”) She knew that it was good. Very (I just caught one above: four-year-old little girl)

You can nearly always improve sentences by rewriting them in fewer words.

5. Reframe 90% of the passive voice.

French speakers consider an elegantly managed passive voice to be the height of refinement. But here in the good old U.S. (or Australia, Great Britain, etc.), we value action. We do things is inherently more interesting than Things are done by us. Passive voicemuddies your writing; when the actor is hidden, the action makes less sense.

Bonus: Use spell-check

There’s no excuse for teh in anything more formal than a Twitter tweet.

Also, “a lot” and “all right” are always spelled as two words. You can trust me, I’m an editor.

Easy reading is damned hard writing. ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

noun:

⟡ she/her ⟡ '04 liner ⟡ february baby ⟡ socal latina (🇲🇽🇺🇸) ⟡ yoongi’s goldfish, jimin’s marimo ｡°

astrology:

☼ - pisces | ☾ - pisces | ↑ - virgo | ♡ - aries

army stats:

When did you become an army?: 2016/17; I first heard of bts in late 2016 with bs&t and officially became an army in late 2017 with dna and mic drop Who is your bias?: yoongi is my forever love but i’m ot7 ofc ♡ in another life I feel like I would have been a joon or jimin biased girly tho lol Favorite album/era?: always changing, but right now, hyyh <3 Favorite songs?: subject to change but I’d say 134340, autumn leaves, hip hop phile, just one day, cypher pt. 3, wake up, jump, like pt. 1+2, dis-ease, hold me tight, and so many more Been to any concerts?: yes! PTD On Stage day 4 & Suga | Agust D days 1 and 3, all in LA

👀👀👀

[29/547] — until we meet again, jungkook ♡

beautiful. | for @lesbiansloveseokjin

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⟡ midnight { ✓ | .ᐟ | ❀, ❤︎ } : "I think I can help you sleep better."

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People worrying if their fic is too self indulgent like....... that is the point of fanfiction. You are supposed to indulge . Every fic is self indulgent