The past year has been a challenge. We’ve witnessed the continued senseless murders of brown and black bodies. We’ve watched as Indigenous women continue to go missing and turn up murdered (1). We witnessed violence around the world and insurrection at our own back door (2). As citizens of planet Earth weathering the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve endured lockdowns and mourned (so far) the loss of friends and family—3.51 million people globally (3).
The pandemic has shown us the worst of people and the best of people. We’ve stood appalled at the selfishness of those who refuse to protect others by doing something as simple as wearing a mask. We’ve acknowledged the sacrifices of our frontline workers (and continue to fight for their status as “essential”). We’ve learned to slow down and get to know our neighbours. We’ve marvelled at the resilience of our children (and their teachers) as they’ve moved from in-person to online school, and back and forth several times.
We’ve dealt with deep depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress while simultaneously witnessing small moments of joy. We’ve marched in #BlackLivesMatter protests and have listened to our colleagues and friends of colour—recognizing that to build a truly anti-racist society we have a lot of work to do, not just externally, but internally, too.
The Canada-U.S. border has been closed for over a year. While lockdowns have helped to keep us safe, they have also caused businesses to close and people to lose their livelihoods. For those of us who can, we’ve moved our work online—meeting with our clients, colleagues, and friends in virtual platforms. Some of us haven’t seen our family members in more than a year; some of us have been stuck only seeing our family members for more than a year.
It’s been an emotional roller coaster.
As an editor, I’ve seen more people writing this year. I’ve had clients, and potential clients, reach out and then realize that they either aren’t ready for a professional editor, or simply cannot afford one. And yet, they want to make their writing better.
I truly believe that every writer can benefit from someone else’s eyes on their work. At the same time, self-editing is a crucial practice to cultivate. But it’s hard work, and it can seem daunting figuring out where to begin.
As we continue in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve decided to start a series of blog posts aimed at helping writers self-edit.
Many suggestions come from my professional editing experience and training. Other advice comes from my time as a writing teacher. Some recommendations may really resonate with you. Others may seem too abstract. Take what works for you and use it. Leave what doesn’t work for someone else.
Write on!
If you have questions, please ask (I’ll do my best to respond to as many comments as possible).
Help! I Can’t Afford an Editor—A Series to Help you Self-Edit
1. A Useful Tool—6+1 Trait® Writing
3. A String of Prepositions (coming soon)
4. Be Concise (coming soon)
5. Structure and Length (coming soon)
6. Relationships: Sentences and Transitional Words and Phrases (coming soon)
7. Make a point! (coming soon)
8. Antecedents (coming soon)
9. Subject/Verb Tenses (coming soon)
10. Read it Aloud (coming soon)
Sources:
1 National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. 2019. “Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.” Available at: https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/
2 Wikipedia. 2021. “2021 Storming of the United States Capitol.” Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_storming_of_the_United_States_Capitol
3 University of Oxford and Oxford Martin School. 2021. “Coronavirus (COVID-19) Deaths: Statistics and Research.” Website: Our World in Data. Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/covid-deaths?country=IND~USA~GBR~CAN~DEU~FRA