Hey Reader,

Welcome to the third issue of A Way with Words, a weekly newsletter where I share writing and editing tips to help you create clear, coherent, and compelling content. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, subscribe here to get the next edition in your inbox.

How to self-edit (as) objectively (as possible)

The other day, I came across a funny tweet about writing:

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Claudia Stellner @claudiastellner Good writing is 60% editing, 39% gathering good material, and only 1% actual writing. 9:15 AM • Aug 1, 2023 4 Retweets 71 Likes Read 19 replies

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While the numbers are exaggerated, the message is spot on: editing is the most crucial part of the writing process. It’s where you enrich your insights, structure your ideas logically, eliminate wordiness, and fix errors.

But self-editing can be tricky. Because you’re familiar with your work, you’re likely to overlook grammatical errors and logical gaps—your brain will automatically correct errors and fill in the blanks. It’s just like when you’re blind to someone’s faults because you’re emotionally attached to them; meanwhile, everyone else can see those flaws. (We all have that one friend, right?)

The good news is you can train your brain to be more objective when self-editing. Here are a few ways to detach from your writing:

Take a break

I've worked with enough writers to know what they do immediately after completing their first draft: check for errors with Grammarly, scan the text for other issues Grammarly may have missed, and then send the draft to their editor (or publish on any platform). Listen, I've done it too, so no judgment here.

But it's a terrible move, for several reasons. One, self-editing is not simply checking for grammar and punctuation errors; it's revising your text for clarity, conciseness, and coherence, so you need to read line by line. Two, you'll be too overwhelmed from writing your first draft to pay attention while editing.

To make your writing the best it can be, you should set it aside for a few hours (and if possible, a few days). Take a walk. Listen to music. Watch an episode of The Office. Call that friend you haven't spoken to in ages. Then, come back to edit your work with fresh eyes. You'll find it easier to spot spelling and grammar mistakes, unclear sentences, and logical inconsistencies.

You know what this means, right? Stop👏🏽completing👏🏽your👏🏽writing👏🏽tasks👏🏽too👏🏽close👏🏽to👏🏽the👏🏽deadline.

Change the format

I typically don't wear makeup, so whenever I get all dolled up for a special occasion, people usually stop in their tracks and say, "You look so different, I almost didn't recognize you". The same thing works when you're about to self-edit: change the appearance of your text to make it look less familiar to your brain. This way, you can spot writing flaws more easily.

You can:

• Increase the font size or zoom in
• Use a different font (preferably something ugly like Times New Roman)
• Print it out and highlight errors with a pen. We're trying to save the trees so maybe do this sparingly, okay?
• Convert it to a pdf and read it on your Kindle

Read out loud

Instead of reading silently, say the words aloud to gain a different perspective. You can also record yourself reading your work, and then play it back. This strategy will help you notice what you've actually written instead of what you meant to write, making it easier to spot awkward phrasing, inconsistent tone, and grammatical errors.

Read backwards

When you read from beginning to end, your brain is already predicting what comes next (you're the writer, after all), and you're more likely to overlook mistakes. So, shake things up: start from the last sentence and work your way to the first. This forces you to focus on individual words and sentences, helping you to fix wordy or unclear sentences and poor word choice.

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Editors like yours truly exist because it's difficult to polish your writing objectively. But when you distance yourself from your work as much as possible, you can do a decent job, and your writing will be better for it.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed today's newsletter, please forward it to a friend or invite people on your social networks to subscribe here.

Also, if you have any questions or topics you'd like me to cover in subsequent editions, please reply to this email.

With love and semicolons,

Oluwadunni

P.S. Need an editor? Work with me.