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Writer's pictureGeorgina Hull

Reviewing Your Own Work

So why is it important to review your own work? Well, consider other situations in which you review your choices: important emails; deciding which clothes to buy; decorating your house, we review pretty much all our choices in life.


The easiest way to review your own work is to pretend it's someone else's. Distance yourself from your own writing for a while; maybe read or start writing something completely different. When you're over familiar with your work, it's harder to review it objectively.


Once you've reread your work in its entirety, it's time to review what works well and what doesn't. Print it off, get out your best red pen and start marking it. Cross out words and phrases; rearrange your narrative; put a big tick next to what works well. Reviewing isn't just about picking out the weaknesses in your work, remember to celebrate what you've done well too!




It's also helpful to practice your skills by reviewing other people's work: someone else's perspective can be priceless. Be completely honest both with other people and yourself. There might be something the author (which could be you) really likes, such as a certain phrase or analogy, but if it doesn't work tell them! Remember, you can always keep big chunks of work that you cut from one story to use in another.


Editing is a skill you gain with practice, and it's always going to be hard to be critical of your own work, but you also need to be realistic. Most stories don't come out perfectly the first time, and the more you edit, the more polished your piece will become.


If you're looking for other people's work to review and vice versa, check out any local writing groups, or look for online writing/editing forums. There are loads of people out there who can give you some great advice on editing and reviewing your writing.



Happy writing!


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