When it comes to creating blog posts, articles, website content, speeches or any other type of content, there’s one clear skill that every writer needs – the ability to edit.
As a journalist, short story writer, poet and of course, a copywriter, editing is just as much a part of my life as writing is – moreso in many ways. For, unbeknownst to most clients, the final finished piece of content they receive in their inbox will never be the same piece of content that I started off with…
Editing is the magic that makes a great piece of content sparkle.
And – if you think editing is just spell-checking, then you’re definitely on the wrong page.
When a writer approaches a piece of work, there’s always an element of research involved, as well as speaking to the client to make sure they get all the details they need for the project. They may also use materials the client forwards on to them to incorporate into the content.
The first draft of text the copywriter creates will contain all the elements of the final draft, but it’s far from being complete. That’s when the real fun begins.
The editing process essentially involves cutting text – often great swathes of it – rewriting the various elements of the piece and making it flow better to carry the information forward more clearly. It means restructuring and revising; amending the tone of writing, the elements within it – the style of it. Of course, it must also be grammatically correct and without typos but then, that goes without saying…
Editing cuts out all the stuffing of a piece of content and, if you don’t know what I mean by that, then there are plenty of examples to be found floating about the internet. Journalism offers a great training ground for editing, as news stories must be short, sharp and to the point. Editing, however, will shape a piece of content in many different ways – it all depends on the type of content you want to create.
So, when the final draft of a one-page article, a blog, or a blurb which reads so smoothly it seems to have been whizzed up in seconds pops into your inbox – though it may bear no trace of the versions which went before, it certainly bears the fruit of a heck of a lot of refinement.
All good writers know that to edit is to ensure a piece of content is turned out as well as it can be – that it conveys the intended message to the right audience in the best possible way. So, if you’re writing any type of content, it’s the one key skill you need to make that content sing.
The other, of course, being the ability to write well in the first place. 🙂
Need help perfecting your content? Email Claire on claire@eseditorial.co.uk