Did you know that your favorite authors may not write any better than you do? They may have a more successful end product than yours but the first draft is often no better than any of your own first attempts at writing. Your first draft is like a rough diamond; it has plenty of value but you need a professional gem cutter to get at it and show off the true beauty that lies inside. This is why the top authors hire professional editors, their own gem cutters, to bring the gleaming jewel hidden in their draft to light.

Doesn’t seem fair, does it? It’s no wonder they write so much better than you – or at least appear to. Someone else is doing the work for them! The first thing to bear in mind is that even a top-level professional editor can’t turn a lump of clay into a gleaming jewel; there has to be something worth working for. And second, you don’t need to hire a professional; learn how to edit your own writing. It isn’t hard but there are some rules you should follow to create your own piece of polished prose.

Rule One – Don’t Use Grammar Expletives

These are literary constructions, starting with “it”, “there” or “here” and ending with a form of the “to be” verb.  You often see the following constructions in books:

It was

It is

It will

It won’t

It takes

Here is

There is

There will be

When “it”, “here” and “there” are referring to a noun that comes later in your sentence or referring to something unnamed, your writing is weakened. They take the emphasis away from what drives your sentence and they need support from other words, like “who”, “then” or “that”; these weaken your work even further. Let’s see an example:

There are some writers who seem to have …

“There are” puts the focus on something called “there” and not on the real focus, “some writers”. Another useless word, “who” must then be used, taking the unnecessary word count to three – and no focus in that sentence. 

Learn to spot these in your own writing. Look for those words followed by the “to be” verb – “is”, “was”, “were”, etc. Change your sentences to lead with the focus instead.

Rule Two – Don’t Use Weak Verbs

Weak verbs love to get together with “it”, “there” and “here” to create wicked grammar expletives but they also have their own class of bad constructions. Some uses of the “to be” verb will seriously weaken what follows and need replacing with powerful alternatives. Two examples for you:

He is writing is better as He writes

She is aware that people love her is better as She knows people love her

“To be” verbs are not the only weak ones; use action verbs where possible:

Instead of “give out”, use “offer”

Instead of “find out”, use “discover”

Instead of “make it clearer”, use “clarify”

Making these simple changes will give your writing more power but there is more you should do.