How to Edit Your Blog Post Before Publishing —With Love, an English Teacher

Editing is one of the most important steps in the writing process. Without it, articles, books, stories or even hubs would be incoherent and difficult to read. Editing helps to make sure every piece of writing is following standard grammar and spelling rules that ensure a reader's ability to easily read and understand a piece of writing.

While reading some of the articles I find online, I have come across some new articles or hubs that make the English teacher in me cringe a little. These articles, while containing interesting information, are full of some very basic writing errors, such as in capitalization, spelling, typos, texting language, run-ons and fragments. To me, that automatically makes an article or hub unappealing, and I immediately ‘hop’ on to the next one.

This article isn’t meant to criticize those with articles or hubs containing errors—please don’t get me wrong. It’s not what I usually submit (baby/toddler/parenting articles), but I’m hoping to help anyone willing to read this with their editing before they publish their work which is then available for the world to read.

You want more and more readers/followers, right? Editing will help!

Here are some of the editing techniques I use when I write. They are tried and true techniques; they have been documented (meaning, some are very common in the education world), they have been used successfully by my middle school students, and I use them myself. They might even be techniques you have read about elsewhere but that you have been out of touch with for a while. They will take time and effort, but they are certainly worth both your precious time and effort.

1. Read your writing aloud. To edit, many people just scan what they wrote instead of truly examining it. Since they ‘know’ what they wrote, they don’t really see what is actually on the page and they miss many of the basic mistakes that are present. This is a pretty important step in editing. To do so, all you need is to read your writing word for word to yourself. By listening to your words as well as looking at them, you are forcing your brain to focus on the conventions (spelling, sentence structure, punctuation, etc.) rather than just the content. Look for common homophone/homonyms errors (their, there, they’re…etc.). Listen to your sentences—can you identify the subject and the predicate? Do you use a certain word too often? Find a synonym. Look to make sure all of your sentences start with a capital letter.

You might feel silly doing this, but don’t! If you feel silly, find a quiet place away from others and just focus on making your writing the best it can be!

2. Ask another person to read it. It’s all about perspective; your ‘editor’ might see something that you missed, or ask you a question about confusing word choice/sentence structure. Ask them for some constructive criticism: what might they want to see in your writing that they think would be an improvement.

3. Create smooth transitions. Does your writing lack transitions? Transitions make writing easier to read because they give the reader a sort of map to follow. “First, pick up the pencil. Next, scribble all over your paper. Lastly, crumble up paper and make an attempt at a two-point shot into recycling bin.” Perhaps your writing has too many transitions. You may have to take some out to keep your writing from becoming too choppy.

4. Revise texting language. If you’re looking to write a quality hub that other adults are going to read, avoid using word shortcuts like “u” or text acceptable errors like “i” for I (the personal subject pronoun). We’re all guilty of it these days, but it shouldn’t be part of a quality essay.

5. After making improvements, read it again, aloud. It’s just one extra step towards writing a great hub. Read it aloud again, listening for anything that may need to be revised again. Make sure your writing sounds and looks like it will help you gain more followers, (and in some instances, more money).

Often, this whole process will need to be repeated several times before you get everything right. It is worth it though, isn't it?

These are just a few of my editing techniques; there are so many more out there if you’re interested in doing some more research. Following these techniques or others should really help you in your quest of being a quality hubber.

Try not to just rely on spell checkers or the grammar indicators that will help but not find all of your mistakes or areas of improvement. Just like I always told my students, writing is a process, and it’s certainly a process you want to be very involved in if you are ready to write and publish essays for which you want to receive recognition.

As I finish up with this writing, I acknowledge that I have read it about three times now aloud (my only audience available right now is a three-year old…). During each of the three times, I found areas that needed improvement and I adjusted what I wrote. Voila! I am ready to submit my article.

Good luck with your writing!

©ThePracticalMommy

Is there anything different that you do to edit? Please let me know what works for you in the comments. Thanks for reading! Best of luck, fellow hubbers!

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