Editing Your Own Writing: The Most Overlooked Trick (3:10)

I believe most writers today not only appreciate the importance of consciously separating editing from writing, but can also recite the oft-repeated technique tips and tricks, such as:

• wait as long as possible before putting on the “editor” hat
• temporarily change the text to a defamiliarizing font
• don’t rely on spelling/grammar checkers
• study lists of overused and troublesome phrases
• work from a hardcopy
• look for something different with each pass

And so on. Here, though, was one you might not have incorporated into your editing routine . . . yet.

This was a Wreadcast, a short-term, informal podcast piece. After about a week, the audio is typically replaced with a text summary (making way for a new Wreadcast).