Let’s say your writing group or an editor has given you the high-level editorial input on your content that we talked about in episode 95. They’ve offered structural and developmental edits for your piece.

And you’ve incorporated those recommendations—deleting, rewriting, and rearranging material as needed so that your overall idea or message is stronger than ever. You’ve revised per their suggestions, and the organization of the piece reads more smoothly than before. It feels complete and clear.

What’s next?

It’s time to move to the next level.

Next-Level Edits: A Closer Look

It can be a bit discouraging to realize you aren’t done yet, but your project will always need another look—a closer look.

Now it’s time to refine your style through a careful reading. In this stage, you and anyone you invite to offer input can consider your work at the paragraph and sentence level, listening for pace, tone, and voice. You're watching for usage issues. This is the stage when we consider each word choice and eliminate cliches. We pore over every semicolon and comma, watching for grammar and punctuation errors. We fact check.

This is the time for copyediting, line editing, and, eventually, proofreading.

I’ll link to some articles that distinguish among between these types of edits: the copyediting, line editing, and proofreading. As you learn about these labels, you’ll better understand the kind of attention your project needs at these stages.

HOCs then LOCs

You’ll be reminded how the high-order concerns, which I introduced as HOCs in episode 95, are high-level edits addressed first, and then come the copy edits and line edits, which fall under LOCs, known as lower-order concerns, or “later order concerns.” And I like that label—"later order concerns”—because it suggests that we do need to tackle such details as comma placement at some point. They aren’t “low” on the totem pole. Punctuation is important. When LOCs are known as later order concerns, it reminds us that attending to those details simply comes later in the process.

5 Ideas for How to Dig into Next-Level Edits Yourself

While enlisting the help of someone experienced with editing during this stage will provide an objective eye, you yourself can return to your work and attempt some self-editing. Try these five simple techniques to gain as much perspective and objectivity as possible when revisiting your draft:

Set it aside

If you have the luxury of time and you’re not working against a tight deadline, set your project aside for a while: a day, a week, a month. Come back to it with fresh eyes.

Print it out

I hate using paper when I don’t have to, but I almost always find mistakes on a physical copy of my writing that my eye or my brain would fill in or correct when viewing it on the screen. Also, I can stuff a printed copy into a bag or backpack and take it with me to mark up while I’m out and about.

Read it aloud

I always read my work aloud and make notes directly on the copy as I seek a more natural expression of my ideas. If you can’t hear the glitches and hiccups as you read it yourself, consider recording it and listen back to take notes. Or have someone else read it to you and listen to where they struggle to work their mouth around the words—could be a clue to play with the phrasing or word choices in those spots.

Create a master editing checklist

Keep a list of your pet words and phrases and use the “search” feature in Word, Scrivener, or Google Docs to track them down methodically. Revise as needed to rip them out and use fresh phrasing.

Add to that master editing checklist

Expand your personal list to include other useless words that might slip into your work. Diane Urban’s list of words you should cut from your writing immediately is useful.