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What I (Eva) think about when I edit

Editing content is a skill. It takes deep knowledge of the audience, their behaviours, and their capabilities. It involves being able to see what's not there in addition to what is present. Eva shares accessible tips to take your writing to the next level

Eva's post contains my single most used editing tip. Do not use the word "this" when you can refer to something more specific. In her own words:

One of the best writing tips I've ever gotten was to avoid using demonstrative pronouns. Instead of saying “this” or “that,” you should add a noun to spell out exactly what you’re referring to, even if you’ve just mentioned it.

And again in my words (via @mheap):

One of the biggest tips I ever received about writing is that when you're referring to "it" or "this", replace it with the subject that you're referring to
In this case:
"Once you've added this" -> "Once you've added the inputs section"

My other top takeaway is to decide what you're actually saying. Don't just start writing and hope for the best. Write a few sentences at the top about why you're writing this content and what you want it to achieve.

From Eva:

It also forces you to think about what your message actually is. Say you want to write a blog post: if you can’t summarize the point you want to make in a sentence or two, how are you going to write a coherent post?

The whole post is useful, but if I had to summarise my takeaways, they would be:

Why does this content exist? What is it trying to communicate?
Refer to things by name rather than saying "this". It adds clarity.