You’ve finished your draft — amazing!  That’s a big deal. But before you attach that file and hit send, give your writing one final push with self-editing.

A quick self-edit helps your copyeditor focus on what really matters — your ideas, your voice, your story — instead of small fixable stuff. Think of it as tidying up before guests arrive.

Here are five simple self-editing tips that’ll make your editor’s day (and make you feel like a pro).

1. Step Away Before You Self-Edit

When you’ve just finished writing, your brain is way too close to the words to see them clearly. Step away. This is a technique I use after I’ve completed a copyedit and before I send it back to the client for review. I let it rest for a couple of days and then go back and review my comments. This helps to ensure that everything is communicated clearly and in the friendly tone I always wish to convey.

The same principle applies to the author. Give yourself at least a few hours — ideally a full day — before self-editing. You’ll come back with fresh eyes and notice things you completely missed before: awkward transitions, missing words, or sentences that just don’t flow.

2. Read It Out Loud

It’s simple but very effective. When you read your work aloud, you’ll hear rhythm problems, clunky phrasing, or spots where you repeat yourself.

If you trip over a sentence, chances are your reader will too.

The Read Aloud tool on Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat is something I use for editing my second passes. It inevitably helps me catch those last errors or wording that just doesn’t sit right.

3. Trim the Fat

Every draft has what I call “fluff.” Tightening your writing makes it more powerful and keeps readers hooked.

Scan for filler words and weak phrases. A few usual suspects: very, really, just, quite, actually, basically, in order to, due to the fact that. I recently copyedited a novel where the author used the word “softly” over 200 times. Needless to say, she was very pleased when I brought this to her attention; however, going back through to clean that up was a nightmare for both of us.

Cut or replace these filler words where you can. You’ll be amazed how much stronger your sentences sound.

4. Check for Consistency

Your editor will thank you for this one! Consistency keeps your writing clean and professional.

Take a quick pass for:

• Spelling (email vs. e-mail, toward vs. towards)

• Punctuation (Do all your ellipses have three spaced periods? Are your quotation marks in the right place?)

• Tone (Does your voice stay friendly, formal, playful — or bounce between all three?)

It’s a small detail that makes a big difference in readability and flow. Editing tools like Grammarly can help with this, but it does not tell you when you spelled a name one way in one chapter and another way in a different chapter.

5. Format for Clarity

Formatting isn’t just decoration — it’s communication. Make your draft easy to read and navigate:

• Use headings and subheadings

• Keep paragraphs short (3–4 lines max)

• Label any images, quotes, or sections clearly

• Use spacing generously

Your editor (and you) will thank you for it. A well-formatted document feels professional and pleasant to work with. Become familiar with the Headings tab in Word, you’ll never look back.

Also, review the guidelines for formatting a manuscript prior to submitting for editing (or submitting for publishing) here.

Final Thoughts on Self-Editing:

A copyeditor’s job isn’t to fix your writing — it’s to help it shine. Time equals money, especially in the world of publishing. By doing a quick self-edit first, you’re not just saving time and money — you’re respecting your own work.

Hit send knowing you’ve given your best effort. Then sit back, relax, and let me take it from there. Check out my services page to get an idea about how I can help your work shine.