Who better to clean and polish our precious gems than us?
We tend to fall in love with our own words, which makes editing our own stories challenging.
Our stories are like our children. Editing them is just part of good parenting.
Editing our own copy puts us in the place of the readers, who’ll appreciate the effort. We care about the readers, sure. But that’s not the only reason. Editing our own copy:
- Gives us more pride of authorship.
- Avoids somebody maybe making changes later we don’t like.
- Means less work for the bosses, which makes them happy.
Editing our own stories requires a little objectivity, which is why this 12-point Self-Editor Checklist comes in handy.
There are two kinds of editing, and our checklist covers them both. News editing looks at the substance and structure of a story. Copyediting looks at the clarity and accuracy of a story, grammar, spelling and formatting.
Our checklist is inspired by a song by musician Tom Waits. You’ll understand why when you download our Self-Editor Checklist.
