Rewrite Article Into A Masterpiece - Follow Steps
Rewrite Article Into A Masterpiece - Follow Steps
What sets the best writers apart is their redraft. They painstakingly chip away, smoothing and polishing, until they produce a sparkling diamond. Time and pressure my fiend.
Ordinary writers see redrafting as an inconvenience. They impatiently give their article a quick look over and move on to write something else. The redraft is the MOST important part of your writing. If you want to be an elite writer and gain a loyal following, then you should spend longer redrafting than writing. Take a few days if necessary. One amazing blog post will serve you better than 10 average ones. It’s worth spending the time.
I usually redraft several times. Each time I pick a specific thing to focus on. Here is what I generally do…
- Basic redraft
- Slimming down
- Split things up
- Add emotion
- Add something to stimulate senses
- Redraft for a good flow
- Final thoughts
Basic redraft
My first redraft is a quick read through and correcting basic mistakes – which are plentiful. There are always silly grammar and vocabulary mistake, missed out words etc.
Slimming down
I go through it again and look for words, sentences and paragraphs that are not needed. If I can pull a word or two out, then I will. This can add up to hundreds of words over a whole article. This makes it feel more authoritative, professional and polished. It also reduces the work your readers to do to read your content. This is vital. People are not patient online, and don’t welcome slaving over excessive wordiness.
Split things up
The visual of your article is also important. I’m sure you've looked at an article and thought “sod that” without reading a word. Some articles look hard work to read. Don’t let this happen to your content. Stand back and take a look at your article and ask yourself honestly whether you would want to read it. If a paragraph is long, split it up into 2 or 3 smaller ones. Use subheadings, pictures, capitals and bold for emphasis. This makes the prospect of reading it less daunting.
Add emotion
People better remember something or someone that has made them feel an emotion. It doesn't matter what the emotion is. Make your reader feel something at some point in your article. Talk about how excited, delighted, exhilarated, disappointed, angry, frightened, disgusted you felt about something.
Add something to stimulate senses
You can stimulate senses with your words. You can liken an unpleasant experience to biting a lemon for example. This makes your text juicier and more interesting. No one wants to read a dried up shrivelled prune. Use references to sight, sound, touch, smell, taste. This stimulates your readers brain and keeps them interested.
Redraft for a good flow
I then make sure my article has a good rhythm to it. The best way to do this is to read it out loud and imagine you’re reading it to a huge audience. If it doesn't sound right, change it until it does. Even little things like changing “does not” to “doesn't” makes a difference. Often sentences need shortening or splitting up. If your writing has a good flow, people are more likely to keep reading.
Final thoughts
That’s 6 processes you can go through when redrafting your article. Try them and see what it does for your writing. I would love to hear your results in the comments. Leave me a link to your article and I’ll take a look.