Finding Your Inner Editor, or How to Grow a Second Pair of Eyes

Imagine for a moment that it’s June 28th, 1776, and that you are a delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Two weeks ago, you and your fellow delegates appointed a Committee of Five, including Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, to draft a statement explaining why the thirteen colonies ought to be independent of Great Britain. Now, the committee has submitted its draft document, written mostly by Jefferson, for Congress to review and, the committee assumes, approve. But despite the stature of its authors [1], you and your colleagues did not approve it. In fact, Congress spent two days editing it [2], creating—to posterity’s benefit—the Declaration of Independence we know today. Jefferson, however, was appalled at the result. As Bill Bryson says in his book Mother Tongue, “Congress did not hesitate to alter Jefferson’s painstakingly crafted words. ... Like most writers who have been subjected to the editing process, Jefferson thought the final text depressingly inferior to his original, and, like most writers, he was wrong.”

We architects and designers communicate graphically, through drawings and models, and we’re used to having our graphic work reviewed. Whether for design critiques, quality control checks, constructability reviews, or award juries, we willingly subject our designs and drawings to the opinions of others. We usually value those opinions and accept constructive criticism in the spirit it’s intended: to improve the design or drawings.

But a lot of our communication is also through written documents, and many architects don’t see the value of having anyone review them. Marketing proposals, resumes, PR announcements, specifications, and letters—documents critical to our businesses and our careers—are often sent out without another pair of eyes to check and edit them.

Almost any written document can be improved by having that other pair of eyes review it. But what if you’re on your own, without an editor’s second pair of eyes? Not to worry. You can grow your own second pair of eyes (figuratively speaking, that is) and become your own editor [3]. All it takes is a little time. After you have finished what you think is a good draft, put it aside and busy yourself with other things. Wait as long as you can before returning to the document; even an hour might be enough, but a day or two is better. (For this to work, you can’t wait until the last minute to write the draft. Finish your draft as early as possible, so you have time to set it aside.) When you return to your document, read it as though you are someone else reading it for the first time. Ask yourself, is it clearly making its point? Is it too long? And is it saying what I thought it was saying? The answers will likely be, respectively, “sometimes not,” “yes,” and “not always.” Let’s address each of these problems.

If your point is unclear, then express it more simply. As author John Scalzi says, “Nearly every writing problem you have can be solved by making things simpler” [4]. Use words your readers will understand; don’t make them look in a dictionary to know what the words mean. Avoid complicated sentences whenever possible. Make it easy for your readers. They’ll be more likely to finish reading what you’ve written.

Why did I say your draft is too long? Because all drafts are too long. Every draft I’ve written (as well as every draft I’ve edited) benefitted from being shortened. Look for and delete sentences that are essentially repeating information said elsewhere. Look for passive sentences (rebuilding them as active sentences will almost always make them shorter and more direct). Look for prepositional phrases (revising them to avoid the propositions will generally eliminate unnecessary words). Look for phrases such as owing to the fact that, at this moment in time, in close proximity to, and in the very near future and find simpler alternatives (e.g., because, now, near, and soon). And look for and delete words that add nothing to your message, such as basically, completely, definitely, actually, and essentially [5]. These simple tricks will help you turn flabby drafts into trim and lean documents.

And finally, you may be surprised how often what you meant to say isn’t what you wrote. While you’re in your writing mode, you know what you mean, but the words you’ve written may be telling your readers something else. But don’t blame your readers for misunderstanding what you’ve written. In her book Woe Is I, Patricia O’Connor gives us what should be every writer’s mantra: “The reader is always right.” In other words, if a reader doesn’t understand what the author is trying to say, it’s the author’s fault, not the reader’s.

If your draft has these problems—unclear points, excessive length, or unintended meanings—don’t fret; most drafts, even by experienced writers, have them. But remember this: None of these problems is a mistake. You can’t make a mistake in a draft. They’re mistakes only if you don’t fix them in your final document.

Finding your inner editor (and growing that extra pair of eyes) is a skill anyone, with practice, can learn. Volunteer to edit your coworkers’ drafts; you can often be more ruthless with someone else’s drafts than your own. As your skills improve, you will be better as your own ruthless editor, and you’ll learn to trust your new pair of eyes.

Footnotes:
[1] While Jefferson and Adams may still have been up-and-comers in 1776, Franklin was already world-renowned, a genuine superstar of the 18th century.
[2] Had the Continental Congress had Microsoft Word’s Track Changes, their work on the first two paragraphs might have looked like the image at the top of this article.
[3] For really important documents, such as contracts, you should get another person (in this case, a lawyer) to review them, rather than rely on yourself.
[4] You're Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop: Scalzi on Writing (2007)
[5] Yes, I know I used essentially just four sentences earlier. But in this case, removing it would have changed my intended meaning.