12 Editorial Skills You Need to Become a More Efficient Editor – InstantFollowerz

I consider myself a good editor, but I only got to where I am today by practicing my editing skills.

Being a good editor is a muscle you have to exercise.

In this article, I’ll talk about how to improve your editing skills with 12 strategies I’ve used (and still use) to edit more effectively while preserving the integrity of the original author’s words.

Everything I write for the HubSpot blog is edited by myself. I also run Breaking the Blueprint, a blog column that primarily publishes content from outside contributors whose writing I have to edit.

The editing skills I’ve developed help me ensure that my writing, as well as that of outside writers, is good and useful for readers like you. Let’s take a look at some of my tried and true methods.

12 ways to save time while editing text

1. Find a quiet space to edit.

Don’t try to do your editing in a meeting or when you’re around chatty colleagues.

Research shows that this kind of multitasking can make us far less efficient in our work and increase errors and stress. And when you edit, you try to catch those mistakes so you want to be extra diligent.

Instead, I suggest finding a place where you can tune in and concentrate on what’s in front of you. If you’re working on a piece of writing that will require more than a few hours of careful editing, block out chunks of uninterrupted time with small breaks in between (Pomodoro method).

Of that it can take 23 minutes to get back on track after receiving a notification, maybe consider turning off those pesky email and SOCIAL MEDIA notifications, or putting your phone on airplane mode to really sharpen your focus.

2. Make sure the topic aligns with your content strategy.

You may be tempted to dig into the essence of the piece and start carefully editing it right away.

As editors, it’s important for us to put content in context before diving into the details.

First, quickly go over the working title and main ideas covered in the article. think to yourself:

• Does this topic align with our content strategy?
• Will our readers and customers care?
• Does each part flow naturally into the next?

If you’re worried that the article isn’t about a topic your readers will be interested in, think about how to adjust the English.

You’ll also want to think about how the article fits in with what you’ve written in the past—especially if it’s a blog piece.

Search engines like Google might see the second post as duplicate content and punish you in search.

Even if Google doesn’t consider it duplicate content, competing for keyword rankings against another post from your own blog will hurt your SEO strategy.

The questions I recommend you ask here are:

• Have we covered this topic comprehensively in the past?
• Does this offer a new angle and perspective?

If both answers are yes, think again updating and republishing original draft.

3. Read content and ideas first, then grammar.

I recommend reading the entire section before editing in detail. This will help you think about it holistically and identify areas for improvement.

This may seem like I’m adding time here, but trust me, this will save you a lot of time and pain in the long run. If you’ve ever started editing a piece line by line only to realize it needs a complete restructuring, you know what I mean.

The key takeaway here is to recognize when a piece needs more work from the author.

“Sometimes, an author submits an article before it’s ready to be edited,” said Corey Wainwright, HubSpot’s CRO strategist and copywriter at HubSpot.

“Learning to recognize those instances can save you a lot of time because otherwise you just start rewriting the work, which isn’t helpful to either of you.”

Ginny Mineo, former marketing blog manager at HubSpot, agrees: “Your job, as an editor, is to preserve your writer’s voice while making sure it meets your standard of quality.”

If you notice that the piece doesn’t flow well, the introduction needs tightening, or the article doesn’t have enough bullet points to meet your quality standards, I recommend sending feedback to the author.

That will be more productive than changing everything around you.

If the piece needs a huge amount of editing help, then the author’s writing might not be right for your publication—and you’ll save a lot of time by telling a contributor directly.

4. Check the places where the author can fill in the blanks.

In addition to providing larger, broader feedback, you should also read the entire article to identify minor improvements that you might (or need) the author’s help with.

Here are some questions I ask myself when doing this:

• Are there structural inconsistencies in the piece? For example, if they have included an example in every part of the work except one or two, you could ask them to find one for each of those parts.
• Are there any points that need any, more or better proof? Statistics and data can improve the quality of your content and make it more interesting for readers.
• Are some sources missing citations? This is a big one.

As you read, take notes on these points in a draft email to the author. When you’re done, make sure you clean up your notes so they’re understandable.

5. Bookmark useful websites for quick reference.

After the content, ideas and structure of the work are ready to work, you can move on to the most important thing.

This is where I like to keep a few web pages bookmarked for reference. Here are the ones I prefer.

6. Keep useful code snippets handy.

Along with useful bookmarking web pages, it’s also a good idea to have all those useful snippets of HTML or other code that you commonly use readily available.

For example, you can use a specific code to include a “Featured Snippet” modules in your CMS.

I keep code snippets in a document to make this process easier. When it’s time to add them to the source code, I simply pull up the notepad, copy the code, and insert snippets as needed.

Here’s a detailed introduction to HTML so you can learn useful coding hacks.

7. Read the passage aloud.

Although this tip is near the bottom of my list, it’s one of my favorite editing methods.

Why? It’s great for spotting mistakes. I’m much more likely to find awkward sentences and other things when reading aloud.

Bestselling author David Sedaris he told Fast Company he uses this verbal approach to fine-tune his writing: “I used to hate when a book would come out or a story would be published and I’d be like ‘d—, how did I not get that?’ But you almost always get it when you read it aloud.”

Reading aloud will help you catch these mistakes in the first round, saving you time later.

8. Use Find and Replace to quickly fix common errors.

We all have words that confuse us, no matter how long we’ve been writing or editing.

Think about it: What mistakes do you often make when writing or editing? What things do you miss the most?

While you’re editing, you can do a “find and replace” before publishing to catch any mistakes that slipped through. It’s a faster way to polish pieces than manually searching.

To perform “Find and Replace”, press Control + F on the computer (hr Command + F on a Mac), type the word or phrase in question and click “Find”.

9. Do a final check of Microsoft Word.

It doesn’t matter how carefully you looked at the text: More often than not, you will find additional errors with the spell checker that you would otherwise miss.

I recommend pasting the content into Microsoft Word (length permitting) for a final check. If you prefer other writing software with spell check, use that. This is also when you can paste it into a tool like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor.

You can then go through it and evaluate any red or green squiggly lines you see.

10. Step away, then come back.

Sometimes I edit a piece for so long, either mine or someone else’s, that it all starts to sound bad.

I take it as a clear signal that I need to step back, reset and come back with fresh eyes. The length of time you “retire” depends on your wishes. Sometimes I step away for a few hours; sometimes I won’t even look at it for a few days.

When I go back to it, it’s easier for me to recognize everything that needs to be edited because I’m not reading the same sentences over and over again.

My recipe for success is a combination of this tip and the previous one: take a step back and then read it out loud as the first step when I come back.

11. Know when content is good enough.

I know like any other editor that it’s hard to let go of perfectionism. But it turns out that perfectionism, while helpful in certain contexts, can become a major obstacle to productivity.

There will always be something you can do to improve your writing. You might think that “done” is spending every possible minute improving, polishing, and perfecting a piece until it’s brought to perfection.

But what do you sacrifice by introducing more, smaller improvements? And are these victims real? Are they worth your time? At some point you have to ask yourself:When is ‘good enough’ good enough?”

Of course, knowing what the threshold for “good enough” is is easier said than done. Here’s a helpful formula to give you some direction:

1. The piece successfully solves a problem, addresses a need, or conveys a desired message.
2. It is clear and distinct on the brand.
3. The quality of work is in line with or above the level of previous work.
4. It has been thoroughly but objectively examined by other qualified individuals.
5. The final decision on the choice is left in the hands of the creator.

Make sure you complete the most important editing and proofreading tasks. Then, when you’ve perfected the piece enough to move on … just move on.

12. Hold this checklist before publication convenient.

Before you hit publish, it’s time to do one more thing to make sure you’ve ticked all the boxes.

Although this seems like another extra step, remember that this is an investment of time that will save you from having to return to the piece later to make changes and adjustments.

Threads like that, use this online editing and proofreading checklist when you do the final check. Feel free to add it to the list as well, as you may have additional steps in your process.

After all, being an effective editor requires concentration, attention to detail, and the ability to know when to stop. With this list at your disposal, you’ll be better in no time.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in April 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.