You’ve created your application packet for that dream job opportunity, you’ve written a speech for your brother’s wedding, or you’ve finished your manuscript of the next great American novel. Now what? You only get one chance to impress your audience, so the more time and care you take in the earlier stages of the writing process, the better. What’s the next step on this path to publication? After self-revisions,(1) you need another set of eyes: an editor.(2)

Maybe you read that last sentence with a bristle of pride. I’m here to tell you that you need to reconcile that pride of authorship with the fact that being the best you can be requires constructive criticism, and the humility to take it in stride. On this path to publication, presentation or pronouncement, you need to submit your writing through the refiner’s fire of editing. How else will that carbon-turned-jewel(3) bedazzle, without the scrutiny and feedback of a layperson?(4) 

Ernest Hemingway was a notorious self-editor. He would edit each word, writing and rewriting line-by-line.(5) Let that sink in. If the celebrated novelist, journalist and WWI ambulance driver would painstakingly edit each line of his manuscripts, written with his mechanical typewriter, what’s keeping you from editing your own work and passing it on to a trusted editor? Because language matters, my friends. I won’t argue the semantics of grammar here; let’s face it, the rules are ever-changing: grammar was created to frame spoken language into tangible bits and not the other way around. But how you express yourself and the words and structure you use to convey that message can create a sense of awe or of the odd. 

You’re feeling on top of the world now that you’ve completed your written draft. Think to yourself, will my audience walk away from my work feeling impressed or depressed? The only way to impress is to submit your creation to the rigors of editing.  

Keep at it! Writing and creating… and editing.  

Notes:
(1) Devise a system of your choosing, but it is wise to step away from the project. Even for a day or two so that you may approach the text with fresh eyes.
(2) In another post I will go into the details of why you need another person to review your work. Think of it this way: your brain basically autocorrects most of the mistakes you make. Your brain already knows what you want to say, so why would it waste any more energy on the fine details?
(3) Quite literally, if pencil is your weapon of choice.
(4) An individual that may or may not be an expert on the topic at hand. That’s the only way to truly know if your work is readable by a general audience.
(5) Ernest Hemingway on Writing (1999) Larry W. Phillips (Editor), Charles Scribner Jr. (Foreword).