There’s lots to consider when you want to put together a loyal group of readers for your blog. You need to find an audience and write to them or write from the heart and find the people who think just like you.
It’s important to know how to write well and find a voice that is fluid, unique and conversational so your readers share in a genuine experience. All that happens when you publish clean, concise copy and self editing is an important part of the matrix.
Here’s a few tips to get you started.
Less Is More
For whatever reason (and I don’t pretend to know why) the fewer the words the clearer the message. That translates into the old adage I’ve used as a subhead and while there are a few words like ‘that’ you can usually remove without changing the meaning of a sentence or paragraph, other editing techniques require more thought.
For example, sometimes bad grammar makes for good copy. If you’re quoting someone in your blog who just happens to be from the tougher side of town, cleaning up their language might change the message completely. Colloquialisms have their place in a conversational piece too; in fact, if you self edit with too formal of an eye, you could very well bury your voice in the process.
Take Your Time
You can’t rush self editing. It requires immense concentration to keep meanings intact, so you might want to run through this process in stages. Some writers I know even put a finished piece aside and come back to it for self editing after they’ve started another piece. A little delay gives the meanings and tone time to ferment and quite often, you’ll come back to the original to find out you’ve discovered a better way to write something that’s more in line with what you originally intended.
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