Editing Your Own Draft: A Step-by-Step Method for Catching Hidden Mistakes

You catch more errors when the draft sits for at least a few hours. Come back to it when the sentences no longer feel fresh in your head.

Prepare Before You Start

Open the file and make two quick changes so the text looks different to your eye.

• Switch the font to something you rarely use, like Georgia if you wrote in Arial.
• Print the pages if you normally edit on screen. Hold a pen while you read.

Work Through These Checks in Order

1. Read the whole draft out loud at normal speed. Circle every place you pause or have to reread.
2. Go back to each circled spot and ask what the sentence actually says. Cut or reword anything that wanders, such as a sales paragraph that suddenly lists meeting times with no link.
3. Check paragraph breaks. If one block holds two separate ideas, split it. For example, separate “We hit the revenue target” from the next thought about hiring plans.
4. Scan for repeated words or phrases on the same page. Replace the second one with a plain alternative if it still fits.
5. Read the first and last sentence of each section. Make sure they connect without extra explanation.