Writers need help from all sorts of reviewers. If a writer at your workplace asks you to review a document, that’s your chance to make their life a living hell. Here’s how to do it. First, some context: editors exist to help writers, but they need help from all sorts of other reviewers, like legal…
A writer asked you to review something. You’ve marked up a document or piece of copy with suggested edits. But if you just send it back, you haven’t done your job. Why? Because the writer will likely just accept or reject those edits without thinking too hard. And that’s a missed opportunity for both of…
Collaborating on a book is hard. Deadlines make it harder. The key is to develop a disciplined process and stick with it. To help you get to the end without tears, I’ll share some battle-tested collaboration tools and tips that will keep you focused on content excellence, not process glitches. (You’ll see where the bear…
It’s not enough to find the flaws in a piece of writing. Editors must know why they’re there. Good editors explain how the writer can cure the habits that led to the flaws. Writing Without Bullshit exists to reveal, not just how to write better, but why you don’t write better already. I don’t just want to make writing…
Being a great editor is hard. You must at once be naive and wise, omniscient and humble, impatient and implacable, sympathetic and uncompromising. You must think like a reader, like a writer, and like yourself. Here are 10 vital strategies to master the contradictions of being a great editor. 1. Critique as a reader, not as a writer You…
Editing is hard. It’s hard to provide useful advice. And it’s hard to take it and use it to make your writing better. This is editing week at Without Bullshit; each day I’ll share my best tips for each of the five levels of editing, as shown in the graphic below. Today: I show how you…
My survey of 547 business writers found one big pain point: managing editorial feedback. Only half of business writers get the feedback they need, and only one in three feels that their process for managing feedback works well. Business writers have little love for feedback processes In this table, the first data column summarizes all the responses; the other columns…
I hate bad prose. (Maybe you’ve noticed.) This affects the way I edit: with inspiration, with passion, instinctively, and relentlessly. All prose has flaws — I find them and critique them mercilessly. I can’t help it. And weirdly, people seem to like it. When a writer sends me something inadequate, I tear it apart. I delete…
You’ve completed a draft and you’d like a review. This is your chance to tell the editor clearly what you need. Or, you could start with excuses. It’s your choice. When you turn over a draft for editing, there’s always stuff that you worry is weak or wrong. Resist the urge to hide your weaknesses. This is…