5 Helpful Sites for Writers and Editors

Ahhh, editing. Just when you think the hard part of putting the random thoughts in your head into words is over, you have to edit and edit and edit. It's such a daunting, time-consuming task, and eventually your eyes glaze over and you don't even know what you're writing, let alone if you're making any sense. Sometimes you start questioning your existence. Sometimes you tell yourself you'll "just take a quick break to rest your eyes" before hopping into bed for a three-hour power nap. Sometimes you'll wind up treating yourself to a dessert that you're sort of hungry for, but totally deserve. Sometimes you find yourself watching a slew of throwback music videos before wallowing in harmless nostalgia for the rest of the night.

All right, well that got a little too real for me there. Let's move on.

I've never consciously given much thought to my editing process, but I know that I like to edit as I go. Usually I'll write a few sentences, read over what I have, and then tweak things as needed, which means adding, subtracting, and changing words, sentences, or entire paragraphs. Such an easy, breezy, super calming process!

However, having at least a general idea about how to edit helps immensely, and this post from Hayley Cruz has amassed an array of articles that may ease the pain and provide some guidance. Here are five sites that I found to be helpful:

1. "Do You Make These 8 Common Writing Mistakes?" delves into eight errors that we've all committed in our writing at least once. I personally found most of them to be a friendly reminder, but there were a couple that I can't recall learning about.

2. "What Should an Editor Do for a Writer" brought to my attention many tips that will help not just myself, but also my classmates when we have to peer edit and provide feedback on each others' work.

3. "10 of the Most Expensive Typos in History" (hopefully) makes us all feel better about our typos, but also highlights just how important it is to have multiple people proofread before publishing.

4. I think most writers have daydreamed about publishing a book, and "The Cost of Self-Publishing a Book" provides insight into whether or not your savings account can handle that investment.

5. Since I've taken mostly humanities courses, I'm very familiar with MLA formatting, but not so much AP style. "Associated Press Style" taught me the expectations for news writing, and maybe it'll do the same for you.

I hope that these links will help you in your future writing endeavors! Let me know in the comments down below if you have another site that you think others should check out.

Until next time, happy editing!