A fellow business owner and coach asked me the sweetest question the other day.

As an experienced writer, do my words flow just as I want them to on the first try?

The answer was no—heck no!

Revision is one of the secrets to great writing.

I’m a big advocate of writing first drafts by hand and expecting them to be not-so-great the first time through (Natalie Goldberg calls them shitty first drafts). Once you give yourself permission to suck, it’ll be much easier to get started. You’ll take more risks, and have more fun. That energy is bound to come through in your writing—probably as voice.

But if you don’t revise, all you’ll have is a hot mess nobody will read.

Here are my six favourite tricks for revision. Follow these gems, and I promise you your (published) writing will start to improve.

1. Take a break, superwoman*

Fold your hands on your lap and repeat after me.

I will take a break between writing and publishing.

I will take a break between writing and publishing.

Trust me, I am very aware of how hard this is. We small business owners are BUSY people, juggling clients and bookkeeping and social media with household tasks and chasing our cats around the apartment every afternoon around 4 p.m., as they demand to be.

Or is that just me?

Anyway, there’s a lot going on. It’s tempting to pound out a blog post, edit it on the spot, and hit publish.

But you need at least a few hours between writing and editing to give your mind a proper break. Overnight is always better.

If you try to edit right away, you’re much less likely to notice mistakes. Your mind will think it’s seeing the words you intended to write—the words still reverberating around your noggin’—instead of the words that are actually on the page.

And obvious errors like missed words or the wrong words aren’t the only things you’re looking for.

*If you’re a dude…hi! I’m glad you’re here too!

2. Find the lede

The lede or lead is a newspaper term for the opening line of a story.

You’ve got to begin with something compelling that either cuts straight to the heart of what you’re trying to say, or gently leads your reader in. It could be the most exciting concept, a sentence that packs a punch, or perhaps a story or narrative element.

Often this shining line ends up “buried” deep in our writing. On, perhaps, the 12th paragraph.

In the newsroom, it isn’t unusual for an editor to saunter over to your desk to say you buried your lede. Then they’ll proceed to show you—some of them still use red pen on paper, or did a few years ago—precisely where that lede is hiding.

When you bring that bit to the very top, it will completely change the feel and flow of your story.

3. Look for repetition

Writing is like baseball—sometimes you’ve gotta swing a few times before you hit it.

But in the process of trying to knock our message out of the park, we often end up with the same ideas said in slightly different ways at slightly different points. Sometimes these sentence doubles hide side-by-side in a single paragraph, while other times they might be sprinkled throughout the piece.

Every single sentence you write should add something new to your post, page, or project. It should advance the story, introduce a new element, or clarify something you’ve just said.

Find those doubles. And zap ’em.

4. Kill your darlings

On a related note, sometimes we write a really gorgeous sentence that simply does not deserve to live.

Perhaps it doesn’t fit the rhythm or message.

Perhaps you already said it.

Maybe it simply doesn’t belong where you’ve written it, but when you try to move it you realize it doesn’t belong…anywhere.

You have to say farewell, my friend.

In journalism, they call this “killing your darlings.” Just because you love a sentence dearly doesn’t mean it deserves to be. You aren’t writing to show off. You’re writing in service to your reader. You want to be respectful of their time and energy, and most importantly, you want to make it easy for them to read until the very end.

If you want, you can stick your darlings in a file to browse for inspiration later. You never know, there might be an afterlife.

5. Trick yourself into a new perspective

If I’m working on something really important, I like to print it out during the revision process.

Not only does this allow you to edit without the distractions of the Internet, but it also makes your words look a little…different. You can trick yourself into the fresh perspective you need to see what’s working, and what isn’t.

You can also try changing your font. I know, it’s weird, but it helps.

Back when we both worked at the same newspaper (and before we were a couple), my partner used to read his stories in column-mode on our newsroom writing software. He’d squish his articles into tiny columns of newspaper text on the computer screen. I remember walking up behind him at his desk and asking what the heck he was doing.

He showed me he was coaxing his mind into seeing things from a fresh perspective.

He’s smart like that.

6. Read your writing aloud

This is your last-ditch attempt to make sure everything is working together as it should.

Reading aloud forces you to slow down and experience every word, just as your reader will the first time through.

Strong writing should sound great read aloud, so go on, give it a try.

Revision is essential to great writing

Everyone has their own writing pitfalls, but these general tricks should help you renew your revision efforts and bring the quality of your work up a few brilliant notches.

I’d love to hear what works for you! Please share your favourite trick in the comments below.

Happy writing!