3 Quick Tricks to Instantly Improve Your Writing

Writers look for shortcuts to improve their writing. By reading books and blog posts on the subject, attending workshops and conferences on writing, and evening listening to podcasts devoted to the topic, they hope to take their writing to a higher level. Whether you’re crafting a blog post, writing a story, or drafting an email, writing effectively can sometimes feel like a daunting task. The good news is that such shortcuts exist! Here are three quick tricks you can use right now to instantly elevate your writing:

1. Trim the Fat: Cut Unnecessary Words

One of the quickest ways to make your writing more impactful is to cut unnecessary words. Overly verbose writing can dilute your message and cost you your reader’s interest.

• Identify Wordy Phrases: Look for phrases that can be streamlined. For example, instead of saying "due to the fact that," simply say "because."
• Eliminate Redundancies: Avoid repeating the same idea in different words. If you’ve already mentioned something, there's no need to reiterate it unless you’re adding new information or emphasis.

A good exercise is to review your writing and ask yourself if each sentence serves a clear purpose. If it doesn’t, consider cutting it or rephrasing it more concisely.

2. Use Active Voice

Active voice makes your writing more direct and engaging. In active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action, while in passive voice, the subject receives the action.

• Spot the Passive Voice: Passive constructions often include forms of the verb "to be" followed by a past participle (e.g., "The teacher was tested by Todd"). Look for these in your text.
• Convert to Active Voice: Revise sentences to place the subject first and make it the doer of the action (e.g., "Todd tested his teacher").

Active voice not only clarifies who is doing what but also makes your writing more dynamic and easier to read.

3. Read Aloud

Reading your writing aloud is a simple yet powerful technique to catch errors and improve flow. This method allows you to hear how your words sound and spot awkward phrasing or unclear passages.

• Listen for Flow: Pay attention to the rhythm and pace of your sentences. If you stumble over a phrase while reading, consider revising it.
• Identify Mistakes: Hearing your text out loud draws your attention to errors or typos that you tend to overlook when reading silently.

Make a habit of reading your drafts aloud. It can help you refine your writing and ensure it communicates your ideas clearly and effectively.

---

When you start using these quick tricks, you can enhance the quality of your writing almost immediately. These strategies not only make your text more engaging but also ensure that your message is conveyed with clarity and precision. So, give them a try and see how much of a difference they make!

Tips from an Editor and an Editor’s Authors

The following notes are from a talk I gave to a writers’ group in 2016 about the editing process for those writers who have never worked with an editor before.

What you need to know about...

Manuscripts: The rules for writing manuscripts for publication are the same as the rules for writing a resume. Don’t use flashy fonts, multiple fonts, varying sizes of fonts, or an alarming amount of bolds and italics. If you feel you need visual acrobatics to draw attention to your story, you probably have a weak story.

Formatting: All an editor wants is a double-spaced 12-pt font document for easy reading. Don’t format your manuscript. The publishing house has a formatting team to handle that. Paragraphs are nice, of course, but putting in your own style is a waste of time. Adding page numbers to a manuscript created in a word processing program is unnecessary and may cause problems if your page numbers differ from the word processing system’s automatic page numbers. Your table of contents doesn’t need page numbers yet, but if you want to hold their places with XX, you can do that.

NOTE: If you are self-publishing, you may have to do your own formatting. However, this should occur *after* editing rather than before.

Punctuation: If you aren’t sure you know the rules for using colons and semi-colons, don’t use them. It’s easier for an editor to insert them than it is for that same editor to have to keep moving, deleting, or correcting them.

There is rarely a reason to use single quotation marks. Don’t use them unless you have dialogue that includes a quote within a quote.

If you struggle with comma usage, it may be because there are 50 comma rules, according to the Pocket Guide to Punctuation by Merriam-Webster! Brush up on the main rules, but otherwise don’t sweat it. Your editor should be able to correct any comma or missing-comma mistakes you make. Just don’t sprinkle them liberally like pepper on a salad!

Never use more than one exclamation point at the end of a sentence. I mean it!

Public Domain: Just because it’s on the Internet doesn’t mean it’s free. Just because you credit the author of, for example, a poem, doesn’t mean it’s okay to use. You must have permission to publish anything that you can’t confirm is in the public domain, and if it is in the public domain, you still need to credit the author if the author is known. Works published before 1923 are in the public domain. Many authors want to quote popular lyrics in their novels but still need permission, even to quote just one short verse, and it will likely come with a fee.

Editing Help: Before submitting your manuscript to an editor, run it through spellcheck, and consider each change carefully. Don’t assume the editing program is correct in all instances! For more advanced editing help, I recommend PerfectIt’s proofreading software. They are based out of the UK, but they have a variety of styles, including American English, within the program. PerfectIt checks for inconsistencies, which is different from Spellcheck.

Misc. Notes: If you can’t handle anyone criticizing or making changes to your work, you aren’t ready to be published. A publishing house editor can have the power to stop you from being considered for future publication. Your reputation for being difficult will hurt you.

While there are obnoxious editors out there, most consider your working relationship as teamwork, not as adversaries.

Tips from Some of My Authors on Working with an Editor

Carrie Daws:  The one thing that I think helps me the most is this: before I even open the edited file, I remind myself that my editor and I are on the same team. She (or the occasional he) wants my book to succeed, wants it to be its best. Once that is firmly planted in my heart and mind, it’s much easier to open the file and read all the changes and comments without it hurting my feelings.

Daphne Self (DM Webb): Editors help make the book stronger, help catch things you miss (such as a complete scene that was forgotten), and are honest about your work and only want the best for the author. Finally and most importantly, an editor can be your friend.

Joanie Bruce: I would also add that editors are usually right about changes they think might make the book better. What I like about having Brenda edit my work, is that she is totally impartial....She sees the mistakes and doesn’t mind having me correct them, because she is unbiased and only wants what’s best for the book.

Lindon and Sherry Gareis: Okay, of course I agree with all of the lovely ladies who have commented, but I'll add another twist. Don't be afraid to speak up. If your editor is all he/she is supposed to be, your concern(s)/question(s) will be respectfully considered. If the editor overrides, of course best to deflect to their expertise, but don't hesitate to at least open a discussion. Take a respectful, no regrets approach.

Kathy Miller Howard: Since I have the experience of working with only one professional editor, my well of knowledge on the subject is limited. However, if it’s up to me, she’d be a keeper! Brenda taught me to trust her expertise, to ask questions, and to view her and her comments as allies. 

Do Authors Need Editors?

Okay, so I have to share this excellent article I found by Dick Margulis that you can read here: Editor-Author Relationship. It’s called “The Editor-Author Relationship: Five Reasons Why Self-publishing Authors Need an Editor.”

It really should say ALL authors need an editor, self-published or otherwise. It’s so true! I’m glad Dick wrote this so I didn’t have to (because if I’d written it, some of my authors might think I was targeting them even though that couldn’t be farther from the truth).

No one’s manuscript is perfect, not even my own. I’m not afraid to admit that, being an editor myself. Sometimes my eyes see things the way I meant to type them and not as I actually typed them. My editors are on my team. An editor’s goal is to present the author’s work in the best light possible, making the author look that much better! Sometimes an editor will give the author advice about additional points that could be made that the author might have overlooked. They work hard even though it’s likely that their efforts won’t be credited within the pages of that book. It doesn’t matter.

Editors may attempt to teach authors ways to improve their writing, but we are not your high school English teacher, as Dick says, “[rapping] your knuckles for forgetting some arcane rule.” So don’t fear the editing process; embrace it!