Between the Lines discussion

need help editing go ahead drop it here

does anyone have any general tips on editing a whole draft and the best way to go about it?

This is probably a bit late, but sometimes I use Grammarly when I am too lazy to edit by myself. If you would prefer to do the traditional method, it might be a bit harder. You will have to just keep on rereading and make sure that the reader has enough information. If it is fiction, make sure that the scenes aren't really jumping or making sure that all actions are complete. I would also recommend checking the same draft/passage again a few minutes later or a day after. Usually by then, we get a clear mind and our mind is better to get feedback and find mistakes.

In addition, I wrote a quick checklist to check. Just reread the passage each time just looking for that thing: (Example: reading for the first time looking for spelling errors, second time for incomplete sentences, etc.)


1. Are there complete sentences? Any incomplete ones should either be on purpose or as a way to emphasize a phrase. In addition, they should have a period at the end or any other type of ending.
2. Did you use the right form of the word? Any times you confused "there", "their", they're" with each other? What about "too", "to", two"? Make sure that each word is both spelt correctly and is used in the right context.
3. Did you use commas correctly. There are 3 main usages of them: for a list, for connecting sentences, as basically showing unnecessary info, for ending quotations, to use for omitted words.
4. Are semicolons and colons being used correctly?
5. Are you correctly showing possession?

Those are the main tips/checklist that I would say to use. Hope that helps you and anyone else!