We are in the midst of renovating our 100+-year-old home. As much as we’d like to, we can’t do it all at once. There are floors to lay, wallpaper to remove (from lathe and plaster walls), plumbing issues to address, a shower to install, painting to be done, and on and on and on. We need to take it step by step and use the appropriate tools.

The same is true of revising our writing.

(Note: And don’t miss the “Welcome, Brenda Wood!” section, where Brenda shares her unique approach to writing in 2026.)

Content Edit

When I do a comprehensive edit for a client, I begin with a content edit, which includes big picture issues, such as checking for genre conventions, consistent point of view, appropriateness for target audience, and much more.

Line Edit

When the writer sends back their revised work, I then move on to the line edit, which is what it sounds like. I go through the piece line by line and make suggestions to make each paragraph, each sentence more polished and effective.

Proofread

When I receive the work back for a third time, I focus on proofreading, checking for any punctuation, grammar, and spelling errors.

Self-Editing

But even before our work is ready to send off to an editor, we will likely have to make several passes through it ourselves.

For example, we may have to make one pass to make sure our POV is consistent; another to make sure each character has a unique voice; and a third to ensure our verb tenses are consistent, which is even trickier if writing a dual timeline.

And when writing nonfiction, we may have to read our work multiple times to make sure we don’t flip flop between academic language and conversational style, to ensure that there is a flow to the order of information we include, and to see that we haven’t included unnecessary redundancy.

Final Pointers

Remember, perfection isn’t the goal. (There is no single definition of perfection.) However, we do want our work to be the best it can be.

Learn to recognize your strengths and weaknesses. Devote some time to developing your weak areas. Work with a writing coach, take courses, read skills development books, etc.

And if you do work with a professional editor, respectfully ask for clarification if you don’t understand their suggestions or if you feel the work no longer reflects your author voice. One of the highest compliments I ever received was “It sounds just like me—only better.” That is always my goal as an editor.

Welcome, Brenda Wood!

All agog with 2026 plans? Nope, that is not me. I am a pantser. I fly by the seat of my pants. I write on demand.

I like deadlines a lot.

Tell me you need something for June 15, and I will probably write it on June 14. I don’t mean to. It’s just that maybe my ideas haven’t meshed till that point, and I probably won’t stick the title. For instance, at my writing group today, we were talking about what justice means to us, and mine came out as a rant. It was as if it was written by a person who demanded everything their way, that their prayers be answered all the time because they were a Christian and special. That’s not what anyone expected. I like to write the unexpected.

I like to think outside the box

When I go back to things I’ve written before I think to myself, “Where was my head when I put that piece together? But that’s not the point, is it? The point is that I was true to myself when I wrote it. So, for 2026, which is practically half over now, I would like to point this out:

I will be fulfilling my obligations when my memory is jogged by kind editors who remember such things.

I will take a long topics going sideways or upside down just because I can because it tickles my fancy and my writing spirit. I advise you to do the same. I don’t like safe. I should say, “I don’t like safe in my writing style.” I’m always driving safely, eating safely, safely following all my medical advice, doing all the life things. But my outside scope is writing. I hope you’ll try it on the edge. Take the opposite opinion; disagree with somebody in your words. It’s more fun.