“We often talk about being a great writer. But most great writers are also great editors, because chances are their first drafts were far from perfect.

So here’s how to be a great editor of your own work and have people think you’re a great writer, too.

Step 1. Plan what you’re going to write

Okay, so this isn’t technically part of the editing process. But planning what you’re going to talk about before you start writing will make the editing process a lot easier. It’s far easier to set up a good structure at the beginning than to rearrange entire paragraphs later on to try and create one.

I usually start by creating an outline of the content I’m creating. I write down the main points I want to cover, and then arrange them into a structure so I can easily segue from one point to the next and take the reader on a journey.

At the stage everything is quite analytical and logical.

But once I have my outline, I can switch to being more creative because I no longer have to think about the structure. I simply follow my outline.

Sometimes a new idea will pop into my head while I’m writing the content. When that happens, I take a step back and see if it will fit into the structure I’ve created. If it can, then I’ll add it to my outline and get back to writing. And if it doesn’t, then I make a note of it (in case I can use it in a future post) and get back to the writing.”