Want to make your writing clearer and more engaging? These 5 expert editing tips will help you eliminate errors, tighten your prose, and enhance readability. Perfect for writers, bloggers, and professionals!
Tip 1: Cut Filler Words & Unnecessary Connectors
Remove words that are taking up space. Find connector or auxiliary words that don’t add to your main focus. Get clear about what you’re trying to say.
- Why it matters: Filler words dilute impact and clutter sentences.
- Be on the lookout for: really, just, very, actually, in order to, kind of, sort of
- Example:
- ❌ “This plan is really innovative”
- ✅ “This plan is innovative”
- Tip: Read your sentences critically. There’s no definitive rule on how to do this – use your best judgement. There’s not a wrong answer here, trust your instincts!
Tip 2: Break Long Sentences & Paragraphs
Extra words are out of the equation, now take a look at your sentence and paragraph lengths. Make adjustments and add variance to keep your readers engaged.
- Why it matters: Long, complex sentences make writing harder to follow.
- How to fix it:
- Focus on one idea per sentence.
- Keep paragraphs concise—aim for 2-3 sentences in online content.
- Example:
- ❌ “Editing is essential because it improves clarity, removes fluff, and strengthens arguments, ensuring that the main idea is communicated effectively.”
- ✅ “Editing improves clarity. It removes fluff and strengthens arguments. This ensures your main idea is clear.”
- Tips: It’s okay to be a rule breaker sometimes. Don’t be afraid to vary your sentence and paragraph lengths. Just like Tip #1 – trust your instinct and read critically.
I love the way Gary Provost reminds us beautifully of this with his piece on sentence length. Editing is a chance for you to be creative. Use structure to deliver your message with impact and keep your reader engaged.
This sentence has five words.
Gary Provost
Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine.
But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening.
The writing is getting boring…. The ear demands some variety.
Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music.
Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony.
Tip 3: Group Similar Ideas Together
The piece you’re editing may be organized in an elegant and clear way. If not, I’ve found it’s helpful to rearrange sentences and group topics together.
How you organize in this step doesn’t have to match the outline of your final product. You will create a framework to use and uncover any gaps in the original organization of the draft.
Bring flow and a clear narrative to your writing and fine tune the outcome of your completed work.
- Why it matters: A scattered structure confuses readers.
- How to fix it: Identify repeating themes or ideas and organize them into logical sections.
- Example:
- Instead of jumping between multiple topics, structure your content so related ideas appear together.
- Use headings or bullet points to make sections clear.
- Tip: You may decide to split topics up or circle back to a previous topic later in your writing – which is okay. By starting out with a clear grouping of ideas and content, you can then decide if your organization is going to improve your writing or confuse the readers.
Tip 4: Decide on Your Main Angle & Arrange Accordingly
Now that you’ve narrowed in on your structure, it’s time to rebuild your writing to convey your desired message. Having a clear goal, or angle, is going to help you determine the best structure for your piece.
- Why it matters: Strong writing has a clear direction—a persuasive argument, an informative guide, or a compelling story. Defining your goal is critical to composing your best draft.
- How to fix it:
- Identify your main goal (What’s the key takeaway?).
- Arrange sections so they build toward your conclusion.
- Example:
- If writing a persuasive article, arrange points from strongest to weakest for impact.
- If writing a news article or blog post, what points are your readers most interested in and how does that relate to your goal for the piece?
- Tip: When you know where you’re going it’s easier to choose how you’re going to there.
Tip 5: Read Your Writing Aloud
Read your writing out loud. Really. Don’t skip this step and only read silently to yourself, trust me on this one.
Read your writing to your cat, dog, potted plant – it doesn’t matter. Your brain fills in gaps and glosses over little things when you read silently to yourself.
When you start reading your work out loud you’ll notice a major improvement in the readability of your final product.
- Why it matters: If it doesn’t sound natural when spoken, it won’t read well either.
- How to apply:
- Read your draft aloud or use a text-to-speech tool.
- Listen for awkward phrasing, overly long sentences, or missing words.
- Tip: If you stumble while reading, rewrite that section for better flow.
Bonus Tip 6: Passive Voice
This rule may not apply to your writing. Scientific reports or legal documents, for example, may need passive writing.
Changing from passive to active can give a subtle shift in your writing that carries a big impact, so play around with this tip during your next edit.
- Why it matters: Using passive voice makes writing less direct and harder to follow
- How to apply: Look for phrases where the object comes before the subject.
- Be on the lookout for: was or by
- How to fix it: Rearrange sentences so the subject performs the action or use action verbs instead
- Tip: If you’re not sure, experiment with your sentence both ways. Decide for yourself if an active or passive voice delivers your message in the way you want it received.
Take these Editing Tips for a Spin
Editing is more than just fixing typos—it’s about making your writing clear, concise, and engaging.
These self-editing techniques don’t cover every aspect of editing, but they can take your writing to the next level.
The next time you edit, try these tips and see how much your writing improves!
Pen and Polish 