: Re: Which techniques can I use to become a better editor when editing my own writing? I'm looking to improve my ability to edit and correct my own writing. What are some techniques I can use

@Kevin153

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A terrific approach is to practice one key element of writing at a time.

Here are some exercises for focusing on one element at a time:

Draft a scene or section of about 500 words. Rewrite, focusing intently on improving the narrative flow--that is, the way one clause, sentence, or paragraph leads to the next.
Draft a scene or section of about 700 words. Delete 1/10 of the paragraphs. Then delete 1/10 of the remaining sentences. Then delete 1/10 of the remaining words. However many words you have left, that's your word limit. (If you still have more than 500 words, keep deleting words until you hit 500, and that's your limit.) Revise to replace anything important that was lost by cutting, but do not exceed the word limit.
Draft a scene or section of about 500 words. Rewrite using sentences no longer than 10 words each. If this is too easy, try sentences no longer than 7 words. Rewrite again using sentences of at least 20 words. If this is too easy, try sentences of at least 35 words. Rewrite again using everything you have learned about sentence length.

For fiction, some additional "one element at a time" exercises are:

Draft a scene of about 500 words. Rewrite with only dialogue and no narrative. Rewrite with only narrative and no dialogue. Rewrite again, using everything you have learned about dialogue and narrative.
Draft a scene of about 500 words in first person POV. Rewrite in close third person POV. Rewrite in third person limited, but with a greater narrative distance. (At this point, if you haven't beaten your forehead to a bloody mess against the keys of your Olivetti, feel free to rewrite one or two more times from different characters' POV.) Rewrite one more time, using everything you have learned about POV.

Here are a few "tie one hand behind your back" exercises. Draft a scene or section of about 500 words. Then do one of these:

Rewrite, eliminating every adjective and adverb.
Rewrite, eliminating every use of the verb "to be."

The idea here isn't that modifiers and "to be" verbs are evil. The idea is to:

Notice the situations in which you habitually use modifiers and "to be."
Identify the effects you are trying to create with modifiers and "to be."
Identify other ways to achieve those effects.
Weigh the effectiveness of the available choices.
Choose mindfully among the available choices.

My writing group did one of these exercises per month for a year. We found the experience far more difficult than we expected, and worth every moment of the struggle. Everyone's writing improved markedly and immediately.

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