C-Suite Network™

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Best Practices Growth Skills

How to Edit Your Own Work

You’ve written a report, speech, newsletter, or other document. You’ve put a lot of time and thought into it. You have an investment in it. Now you need to edit it.

You can find lots of practical advice about how to edit your work. However, none of these suggestions will work for you until you address issues that have plagued the best writers who ever lived.

You’ve Worked Hard on This and You’ve Lost Perspective

This happens to every writer. It means that you’ve immersed yourself in your subject matter. Even when you haven’t been writing, you may have been thinking about the piece and getting great ideas about what would improve that troublesome middle section.

When you mentally write “The End,” you have to mean it—for a while. Put some distance between yourself and what you’ve written. Your involvement and identification with what you’ve written has to loosen before you edit it. Otherwise, you’ll feel as if you’re amputating pieces of yourself when you pick up a pen to make changes.

Repeat “This Is Not Me.”

Even when you do allow a period of time—which will vary, according to your time constraints—to pass before the editing phase, you may feel attached to what you’ve written. This will especially be true if you’re new to writing.

As you gain experience in writing, this feeling will dissipate. It’s normal to feel attached to the first big report or speech you’ve ever written. Once you’ve written dozens, the attachment fades.

You can speed up the process of detachment by telling yourself that this paper isn’t your child or pet. It isn’t your car. It’s a vehicle for you to express facts, ideas, and principles. Do it to do this accurately and in a way that communicates with other people.

It’s a tool for doing that.

Be Ruthless

With the concept of “tool” in mind, approach the editing process as if you’re not the writer but the reader. Many writers find it helpful to read their work out loud. You must do this if you’ve written a speech.

Be honest. Make notes wherever you think your phrasing is awkward. Flag anything that’s unclear. Notice if you repeat words or if your language is too formal.

Being ruthless means boldly making changes that will make your work shine. Consider these style elements.

Make your writing to the point.

If you want to explain why you were drawn to the area of finance, don’t describe all the careers you hated before you discovered the one you loved. It’s like a road trip; detours make the journey longer, and you forget where you were going.

Make paragraphs short.

Limit a paragraph to one idea. This gives the reader the opportunity to pause to absorb one concept before reading another. I recommend a maximum of four sentences per paragraph. Don’t exceed ten lines of text. Your reader needs a brief place to pause before moving on.

Go easy on the adverbs and adjectives.

This is a subject in itself. To give you an idea of this rule’s power, compare the effect of “spoke loudly” versus “shouted” or “very attractive” as opposed to “beautiful.”

Strong verbs and nouns also give authority to your writing. When you have a point to make, you need that authority. If, for example, you’re presenting industry statistics, you don’t write, “These figures suggest.” You write, “These figures confirm.” Be definite.

Walk Away From Your Work. Repeat “This Is Not Me.” Be Ruthless.

These principles will help you hone your writing. Practice will sharpen it into a  powerful tool to serve you.

Pat Iyer is a ghostwriter, editor, and online course creator. She serves the C Suite through the C Suite Network Advisors group. Contact her through her website Editingmybook.com

Categories
Entrepreneurship Personal Development

What To Expect When You Work with a Ghostwriter

When you think about having a book written about yourself or your business, you may ask: “How do they do it? How does someone who doesn’t know me write a book that sounds as if I wrote it?”

This important question underlines the importance of choosing a talented, empathetic ghostwriter. In order to succeed, the ghostwriter must deliver the kind of authenticity that makes sure your voice is included.

How does the expert do this?

She Asks Questions

Before you begin working together, your ghostwriter will probably ask you questions like these:

  • Describe the book you would like to write.
  • Why does this appeal to you?
  • Have you begun?
  • When would you like to see the book in print?
  • Why are you considering hiring a ghostwriter?
  • What are your publishing plans? Traditional? If so, what kind, i.e., a business press, a more general publisher? Would you prefer to self-publish?
  • Who do you see as your audience? Why will your book appeal to them?

Getting to Know Your Voice

The ghostwriter who does a thorough job will study your online presence. This could include YouTube clips, including speeches you may have given at conferences, tweets, Facebook posts, and any blog posts you’ve written. This will give her a good feel for your voice and speech mannerisms.

During the course of your work together, much of which will consist of phone interviews, she will be constantly honing her awareness of how you express yourself. She will note key phrases you use in speech, whether you speak in long or short sentences, and other characteristic features. She will basically immerse herself in your style of expression.

She Will Do Additional Research

She will carefully study your business, especially your corporate web site. The conscientious ghostwriter will pay special attention to your particular passions and interests. She will read any biographical information available about you. She will learn your areas of expertise.

She Will Get to Know the People Who Surround You

 This doesn’t mean she will have chats with your family members—unless you want that, and you can specify the limitations and boundaries you need there. The ghostwriter is likely, though, to want to talk with your executive assistant and other people who are part of your work milieu. She might want to ask questions to a PR person for your company.

Establishing these connections gives the ghostwriter a much broader picture of who you are.

 By the time the ghostwriter has finished the manuscript, she will have worked hard to create a book that has your personality imprinted within it. If you have chosen an editor to do the final version, introduce them to each other. The ghostwriter can explain the details that make this your book. A good relationship between these two people so important to your book can smooth the path to publication.

Consider the Above a Checklist

 When you’re choosing among candidates to ghostwrite your book, ask them how they do their work. If their answers don’t cover the bases described in this article, you may want to reconsider.

Many factors go into making a good writer, but the career of ghostwriter has some very special demands. Make sure that the person you choose answers your questions—and your needs.

Pat Iyer is a ghostwriter who enables experts to create a book without having to write. Contact her through her website at www.editingmybook.com.