Tip #4: Break up editing into separate tasks

Editing a piece of content thoroughly is not an easy job. Careful editing involves correcting grammar, spelling, and punctuation and improving word choice, structure, flow, and readability. Trying to handle all of these things at once would overwhelm anyone.

So, breaking up editing into separate tasks can help make the job of editing a whole lot more manageable.

By breaking up editing into individual tasks, you avoid having to perform the mental gymnastics required to constantly jump from one aspect of your writing to another. The result is that you catch more errors in your writing and save yourself from exhaustion.

The process entails making several “passes” of a piece of content. So, you would make one pass for grammar, another pass for readability, another for formatting, and so on. To save time, you could focus on related tasks together, such as spelling and punctuation, or structure and flow.

And if you have particular weaknesses in writing, then separating each of them into its own individual task becomes much more efficient. For example, if you often have trouble coming up with a punchy opening sentence, then make that a task all on its own, and leave it as the last thing that you do.

The process may sound like it takes more time than focusing on everything at once. But it almost always takes less—and it makes you a better, more conscious writer.