Edit Your Own Copy

Your first draft is supposed to be bad. Its job is to exist. Editing is where it becomes an article, and most of the craft lives here.

Edit in passes. One read for facts, one for structure, one for sentences, one for phrasing. If you try to catch everything at once you will catch the typos and miss the wrong date.

Let the draft sit first if you can. An hour helps. Overnight helps more. You need to read what you wrote, not what you meant.

Pass one: facts

Print the draft or put it next to your notes. Go line by line. Every name, title, number, date, place and quote gets checked against a recording, a document or your notes. Put a small mark next to each one as you confirm it. Anything without a mark at the end gets checked or cut.

• Spell every name against a source document or ask the person. "Ann," "Anne" and "Annie" are three different people to their mothers.
• Recompute every percentage and per-capita figure. Do not trust the number you typed at 11 p.m.
• Play the recording for every direct quote. Close enough is not a quote.
• Check that each "according to" points at the right document.
• Check days and dates together. If you wrote "Tuesday, March 12," make sure March 12 was a Tuesday.

The SPJ Code of Ethics tells journalists to take responsibility for the accuracy of their work and to verify before releasing it. This pass is how you do that.

Pass two: structure

Read only the first sentence of each paragraph. Does that sequence tell the story in the right order? If paragraph seven holds the second most important fact, move it up.

Check the lede against the point sentence you wrote before drafting. Then check the headline against the lede. Look for clumps of quotes or numbers. Check that the other side appears early enough that a fair reader would not think you forgot them. Look for the paragraph you love that does nothing. You know the one.

Pass three: sentences

Now read for clarity and rhythm. Cut every word that does not change the meaning. "In order to" becomes "to." "At this point in time" becomes "now." "Made the decision to" becomes "decided."

Prefer the short plain word. Use, not utilize. Help, not facilitate. Show, not demonstrate. Start, not commence.

Then fix rhythm. Prose where every sentence runs about the same length reads like a drone. Mix it up hard: a four-word sentence after a long one lands with weight. A long one after several short ones lets you carry detail.

Read the whole draft aloud. Every place you stumble, a reader will stumble. Every place you run out of breath, the sentence is too long or badly built.

Pass four: phrasing that sounds machine-made

A lot of writing now passes through AI tools at some stage, and even writing that never touched one has picked up the same habits from reading so much that did. Readers have learned the patterns. When they spot them, they assume nobody was paying attention, and they stop trusting the facts too. Wikipedia's editors keep a long public guide, "Signs of AI writing," because the habits are so recognizable. Whether a tool wrote it or you did, cut them.

Watch for these:

• Puffed-up significance. This vote marks a pivotal moment for the community. The decision stands as a testament to the board's commitment. If the vote matters, the facts will show it. Say what changed.
• Trailing importance clauses. The board approved the plan, highlighting the importance of infrastructure investment. The clause after the comma adds a claim no one made. Cut it.
• The fake contrast. This isn't just about water. It's about the future of Marlow. Inflation by construction. Say the specific thing.
• Habitual threes. The plan is bold, necessary and overdue. Three adjectives, none proved. One fact beats all three.
• Vague attribution. Critics say the plan goes too far. Which critics? Name them, or cut the claim.
• Signposts. Furthermore, Moreover, It's worth noting that, In conclusion. If the next sentence follows, it does not need a sign. If it does not follow, the sign will not help.
• Filler nouns and verbs. landscape, ecosystem, tapestry, navigate, delve, foster, leverage, underscore. These words appear in a huge share of padded writing and almost never in a careful reporter's notes. Replace each one with the plain word you mean, or nothing.
• The summary ending. In the end, one thing is certain: Marlow's water future will depend on the choices made today. Says nothing. End on a fact, a next step or a quote that earns it.
• The same beat at the end of every section. A short dramatic line closing every block becomes a tic within three sections. Let some sections just stop.
• Em dashes everywhere. They are a legitimate mark, but heavy use has become a tell. This course's house style bans them. Use commas, colons, parentheses or a new sentence.

The last look

After the four passes, do one fast read for typos, then check links: does each one open and go to the right page? Check that the headline, dek, lede and first number all agree. And check that you have contacted everyone your story makes a claim about, and given them a fair chance to respond.