What kinds of jobs can you do for local companies?

Internal documents.  Every organization maintains internal documents, such as operating procedures and employee manuals, that they could use some help fixing up.   Ask around if any of these types of jobs are available.  And make sure they get your contact details even when they have no current editing needs.  You never know when those same documents will need to be updated — you could be their go-to guy when that happens.

Marketing materials.  Many small local companies will run ads in local publications and classifieds websites, apart from producing flyers, pamphlets and other marketing materials.  If they’re not outsourcing to a third party, there’s a good chance that they’re handling stuff in-house and need a contractor to help edit the text.

Editing isn’t about proofreading.  Chances are, your grammar software can handle that step all on its own, so you may not even need to bother with it.   Instead, your job is to review various aspects of the paper to make it tighter, clearer and easier to understand.

What things should you be doing?  Here are some ideas:

1. Make sure ideas flow logically.  Despite working from an outline, the drafting stage could have you writing about stuff that detract from the logical structure you decided to use early on.  Make sure the flow stays intact throughout the paper.
2. Make sure each paragraph makes a clear unified point.  If you find any non-related ideas creeping in, either cut them out or put them in a separate paragraph of their own.
3. Reorganize ambiguous sentences.  When you chance upon one of these, a good quick solution is to rewrite the sentence with the subject and verb close together at the beginning.
4. Prune excessively long sentences.  Sentences that go beyond 30 words  put you in danger of creating confusing passages.  Cut them shorter.
5. Simplify your language.  The less complicated your constructions are (without sounding trite), the more accessible your writing becomes.  Use the revision phase to make sure that more readers can appreciate your ideas.

In contrast, you can probably do a more thorough job if you focus on one thing at a time.  By that, we mean consciously working on one aspect of the material, instead of trying to fix everything at the exact same time.

How to do that?  Do multiple passes over your prose, checking for one of these each time:

1. General structure.  Here, you check for the appropriateness of your introduction and conclusion, the relationship between the main point and each paragraph, and the logical sequence of your paragraphs.
2. Content.   In this pass, you have to check whether your writing fulfills all the requirements of the assignment, the consistency of your claims and the presence of adequate evidence to support each of your points.
3. Paragraph structure.  Here, you work on each paragraph individually, making sure they focus on a single idea and reviewing the logical sequence of your sentences.
4. Clarity.   In this pass, it’s a good idea to put yourself in the reader’s shoes, assessing whether the meaning of each sentence is clear, the ideas you tackle are unambiguous and every term you use can be understood by someone at their level of familiarity with the topic.
5. Style.  Here, you focus on tone, choice of language,  length and structure of sentences, and the paper’s general attitude.
6. Citations.  Lastly, you can check whether every non-original material is properly cited and whether your citations are accurate.

If you write in this manner (editing while you draft), it’s probably time to train yourself to do otherwise.  Unless you’re sure time will be on your side every time you put words to paper, getting over this beginner-level malaise will be in your best interest.

Instead of worrying about conciseness and brevity during the drafting stage, just focus on expressing your ideas the fastest way possible.  If you can’t find the words to express a thought, then use a less-than-appropriate alternative — you can worry about fixing it later once the draft is finished.   If you notice messed-up grammar, run-on sentences or some other writing problem, acknowledge it but don’t do anything to correct.  Anything that interrupts the process of pouring your thoughts to paper is just distraction, wholly unnecessary to this phase of the writing process.

When you finish drafts this way, you’ll have plenty of time to fuss about fixing everything later.  Save cutting, correcting and polishing for the revision phase — it could end up being the most useful writing habit you’ll develop yet.

One of the things you’ll have to do during revision is take out a bunch of text.  Words that merely add clutter, sentences that parrot an already stated idea and constructions that don’t add any value will all need to go.   And you’ll have to take them out ruthlessly.

Many people will second-guess themselves during this phase of the writing process.   It’s healthy.  After all, you want to delete material confidently and the best way to do that is to really consider how the text comes across.  Once you’ve ascertained something is best left out, though, then delete it permanently and don’t look back.

Sometimes, we find it hard to delete something we love, like a clever quip or a funny line.  If they really don’t add any value to the ongoing discussions, though, your feelings about them don’t matter.  They need to be trimmed, lest have your paper saddled with too much extra fat.

Consider the reader.  Will reading a piece of text really improve their experience of your material or will it only waste their time?

Reading aloud makes it very apparent when you’ve written something that’s awkward.  Whether it’s a result of choppy phrases, run-on sentences or clumsy constructions, the mistakes become easier to identify with the additional audio component.  On the flipside of that, you also get to hear sentences that flow smoothly and successfully communicate your ideas.

Think voice, for instance.  During a loud reading, you can easily hear an aggressive tone or a largely unsure attitude.   It’s also easy to realize where pauses should appear, so that you can put in the appropriate punctuations after each phrase, clause or sentence.

When you speak to a second-language speaker, you immediately notice the inept parts of their English use.  The same happens when you read a draft out loud — errors that may not be so obvious while you’re looking at the document (let’s face it, you’re biased since you wrote it) will be easily discernible when you get to hear it.

Your writing is only as successful as it is effective at communicating your message to the reader.  Reading aloud will let you simulate that experience.

If you find yourself in this situation, there’s really no shortcut: you have to revise.  Not doing so leaves your paper with logical holes that can easily put a dent in any argument you put forward.  If your paper is up for evaluation by a teacher or your peers, that’s probably not something you’ll want to keep in there.

1. Identify parts that require rewriting.  Highlight them in your word processor.  In these situations, I prefer printing things out and marking the areas that need to be altered.
2. Rewrite them one by one.  I prefer redoing entire sentences instead of trying to fit in the new ideas.  Your own preferences may vary.  As always, turn the grammar checker off in the meantime to keep it from creating an unnecessary distraction while you reformulate your ideas.
3. Test the logic after finishing each area.  Don’t just write everything out in one fell swoop as you would do in drafting.  Instead, evaluate the logic again after each part you finish.  That way, you can rest assured that each new rewrite will stand proper reasoning criteria.

As with all writing that’s been revised, make sure you use your grammar checker again.  This is especially important in case where you make a significant amount of changes — new errors can easily seep in and you need to address them.



The Meat of Paragraphs

Most people focus their attention on the meat of the paragraphs — the content that typically comes in the middle.  While I will not discount the importance of the evidence, reasoning and discussion that goes on in that part of a paragraph, you’re jumping too far if you start there.  It’s akin to the leap of writing a first draft and immediately using your grammar checking software.

The Topic Sentence

Imagine a paragraph that dove right into the meat.  You have no idea of what will be discussed, so you simply wing it.  Two sentences in, you think you get an idea of what it’s trying to accomplish.  Four sentences in, however, it changes course, showing something else entirely.

That’s the problem you encounter without a topic sentence.  If you want your reader to understand your ideas quickly and without much more effort than is necessary, it’s important to give them a clear idea of the topic early on.

While the topic sentence can go anywhere in a paragraph, it usually works best as your first or second sentence.  Too far down and you run the risk of the reader missing it entirely, especially if the discussion that came before already steered them somewhere else.

Unnecessary words in your essays, papers and reports are distractions – ones that take attention away from what your readers should be focusing on instead.  Here are six common clutters you should look to remove while editing your work:

1. Long clauses that can be expressed in shorter phrases.  If a clause can be cut down into a shorter phrase, then rewrite it.
2. Phrases that can be reduced to single words.  If a single word can communicate the same ideas as a phrase, then use that instead.
3. Empty sentence openers.  Using phrases like “There are,” “There is” and “There were” as an opener does nothing to help any of your sentences.  Avoid them whenever you can.
4. Excessive use of modifiers.  Adjectives and adverbs are excellent instruments for adding color to your writing.  Because of their effectiveness, they also make it easy to get carried away. Use modifiers strategically.
5. Redundant pairs.  There are many common phrases that are actually redundant in meaning, such as “free gifts” and “collaborate together.”  Instead of continuing to perpetuate the mistake, recognize and fix them in your own writing.
6. Vague nouns.  Nouns such as “factor,” “area,” “situation” and the like are perfectly valid.  However, they’re inexact and often lead to confusion.  Choose precise nouns whenever possible.

1. Editing for content.  Here, you verify whether you have complied with all of the writing assignment’s requirements and have done so in a complete manner.  Will your argument fulfill the reader’s expectations?  Are your claims consistent and sufficiently supported with adequate evidence?
2. Editing for structure.  The development of your ideas can be just as important as the ideas themselves, making overall structure a critical element of writing.  Do you have an appropriate introduction and conclusion?  Is there a logical flow to the way your ideas are presented from paragraph to paragraph, section to section?
3. Paragraphs and sentences.  Your paragraphs should focus on one controlling idea and discuss it adequately using a logical structure, while sentences should aspire to convey thoughts concisely and clearly.
4. Clarity.  How clear is the main thesis to the reader?  Can they understand the various arguments you have presented for it?  Do you use the terms that aid understanding or lead to confusion?
5. Style.  Here, you check for tone and general voice.  Do you have a consistent approach to writing throughout the piece or do you change levels at various times?  Obviously, a consistent style will help readers settle into your discussion, while a discrepant one can feel awkward.

Some of the more advanced writing software will aid you in the editing process too, so make sure to explore that option if it’s available.  As you can tell, we left off grammar, spelling and other mechanical issues off the editing.  That’s because you can do them later in the proofreading stages – one where an automated grammar software can really shine.