1. steps of editing a paragraph

2. Step One:
Just walk away
• We all know that when we’re too
close to things, we don’t see them
clearly. This can be good for
relationships, but hazardous for the
editing process.
• That's why you need to get a little
distance. So after you wrote your
paragraph, set away from the
computer to clear your head.

3. Step Two:
Imagine you’re not you.
Instead, imagine you’re the intended
audience reading your document for the first
time. The big questions you want to answer
here are:
– Does it make sense? Would the reader
understand what you’re trying to say?
– Does it hold your interest from start to finish?
– Does it include all the information you need
(e.g., important numbers, facts, or events)?

4. Step Three:
Is your writing FAT?
Here are three ways to lose the fat:
– Avoid long sentences: If any are longer than 25 words or
so, consider turning them into two sentences or
removing any unnecessary words.
– Slim down the words: Replace long words and phrases
with short ones. In other words, why say “ascertain the
location of” when you can just say “find”?
– Remember that black flatters figures, but white flatters
writing: Nothing is more daunting to a reader than a
dense block of text. So you add some breathing room
with white space between paragraphs, bold subheads
and (where appropriate) bullet points.

5. Step Four:
Listen to your high school
English teacher
Actually, your writing is not the same as the writing
of your old English teacher. Here are a few major
points we can all agree on:
– Good writing is error-free. This means perfect spelling and
no typos.
• Check for the correct use of homonyms like "to/too/two",
"their/they’re/there", etc. Spell checker doesn’t always make
those distinctions.
• Confirm you’ve spelled all names correctly. This mistake can
be particularly embarrassing.
– Good writing avoids the energy-draining passive voice.
Write "Bob threw the ball". Not "The ball was thrown by
Bob".
– Good writing is formatted correctly. Check your margins,
use of spacing and consistency in style of headings — font,
bold or not bold, capitalization, etc.

6. Step Five:
Now clean it up and read it
again. Out loud.
After you’ve made your editing (don’t
edit onscreen!), print your document
and read it again. If you’re in a crowded
office, whisper instead, but don’t skip
this step. You’ll be amazed at how
much you’ll catch.
http://www.bloger.com/5-steps-for-editing-your-own-writing.htm