Self-editing is a helpful practice for writers. Self-editing helps you grow as a writer. Through self-editing, you will discover areas for self-improvement that you can work on as you write your rough drafts.
Even if you plan to have an editor review your writing–something I always recommend–you’ll still find value in self-editing first. When you self-edit, you’ll give your editor a cleaner copy to work with. You’ll save time and money on rewrites and rounds of editing.
I think of this process like going to the dentist. (Not that editing is painful, although sometimes it might feel that way.) When you go in for a dental cleaning, you get a much better, faster, and more affordable experience if you’ve been brushing and flossing all along. It’s similar to sending your manuscript to a professional editor: you’ll have a better, faster, more affordable experience if you’ve learned to do some self-editing along the way.
Starting Simply with Adverbs
As a writer, you’ll find it helpful to focus on one self-editing area at a time. Choose your focus area, and then work on self-editing that one area with each rough draft. Look for ways to improve your current manuscript in that area. Then challenge yourself to write with that area in mind.
One simple place to start is by focusing on adverbs. While adverbs can be a helpful part of writing, they are often overused. They can easily become a crutch. Or maybe I should have said, “They can become a crutch” and removed the word “easily”–an adverb–from the previous sentence.
Take a look at the heading I wrote for this current section. The heading is “Starting Simply with Adverbs.” The word “simply” is an adverb. Did I really need it? And did I need to put the word “really” in the previous sentence? I could have said, “Did I need it?” and the previous sentence would have made sense. What if the heading were “Starting with Adverbs.” That works, right? Maybe even better. See how easy it is to resort to using adverbs? And how they aren’t needed as much as we might think?
Adverbs Are Overused
I didn’t recognize how much I overused adverbs until a friend pointed it out. She’s a non-native English speaker who specialized in English language in school. That gives her the perfect perspective to analyze my writing. She would read a paragraph I wrote, and say, “Why don’t you get rid of that adverb? You don’t need it.” My native ears brushed right over those adverbs. To her, the adverbs stood out as awkward and unnecessary. It was a great learning experience.
When you start paying attention to your use of adverbs, you’ll learn if you’re dependent on them. You’ll get used to hearing them and stop depending on them. When you do write them, and self-edit by looking for them, you’ll be able to remove most of them. You might have a purpose for keeping an adverb here and there, but for the most part, you can eliminate them and improve your manuscript.
Look at the heading for this section: “Adverbs Are Overused.” It’s tempting to say, “Adverbs Are Often Overused.” But do we need to include the adverb “often”? If adverbs are overused, by definition of the word “overused,” it happens often. It’s enough to say, “Adverbs Are Overused,” and the reader gets the point that this is a common problem.
Stronger Verbs Make Adverbs Unnecessary
Adverbs are often added to weak verbs to make them sound stronger. Why not choose a stronger verb instead? If you want to say, “He pulled heavily on the box,” search for a stronger synonym for “pulled.” He tugged, dragged, hauled, heaved the box gives the image of pulling something heavily without using “heavily,” an adverb.
If you want to say someone ran quickly, how about, “He sprinted” or “He raced.” You can eliminate “quickly,” the adverb. Your stronger verb choice shows the reader how quickly the person ran.
You might add an adverb to a strong verb without realizing the verb does the job by itself. One of the adverbs my friend caught in my writing was the word “sharply.” Here was my sentence: “The boat cut sharply through the water.” I didn’t need to add “sharply” because the verb “cut” already implies that the boat moves sharply. A cut is sharp. When a boat cuts through the water, it automatically makes a sharp cut. Readers can see that without the extra word to slow them down.
When you append an adverb to a strong verb, it’s an exaggeration. When a reader comes across exaggerated word choices, they see those words as weaker and less emphatic. The extra adverbs water down strong verbs.
It’s not surprising that adverbs have tripped me up. My friends know I am prone to exaggeration, self-doubt, and not feeling heard. My overuse of adverbs reflects my attempt to overemphasize, to shore up my lack of confidence, and to be repeat so my words are heard. Knowing I am dependent on adverbs, I know that’s a focus for my self-editing.
Try This Self-Editing Exercise
You can start today with a recent piece of writing. Read through it and circle all the adverbs. Read through it again, out loud, including the adverbs. Then read it without the adverbs. It might help to have someone else read it to you both ways, so you can hear it.
Listen for the difference with and without adverbs. You should hear that the piece sounds cleaner without the adverbs. If your verbs need to be stronger, that’ll stand out too. It’s also great to hear your strong verbs standing on their own and doing what they’re designed to do–relaying your story and message to your readers.
The next time you write a piece, start your practice of self-editing by removing the adverbs. If you need to put one or two back in, for a specific purpose, go ahead. But I think you’ll discover you can do without most of them, and your writing will be stronger.
For fun, search this article for adverbs I missed. I didn’t write them on purpose, but I also didn’t self-edit for adverbs. If you do find adverbs, see if the sentence will stand without them. I’m curious what you’ll find.
Janet Eriksson 