By Linda C. Ray

Keywords: edit, freelance jobs, editing, freelance writers, spellcheck

Improve your writing and present yourself as a professional while giving your editors a break and remaining on their good side. How? By editing your work.

With editing tools such as spellcheck, and editors who don't complain about the work, freelance writers can become lazy and lose their edge. Develop the editing habits that will land you the profitable freelance jobs.

Looking over your work may prove tiresome after you've been staring at it for a long time, but as the editing process becomes second nature, you'll find errors easily and learn to write more efficiently. In a competitive freelance environment, you can use as much of an edge as you can get. Editing your work, and doing a good job of it, will establish you as a well-respected freelance writer.

DO:

• Looking over your work may prove tiresome after you've been staring at it for a long time, but as the editing process becomes second nature, you'll find errors easily and learn to write more efficiently. In a competitive freelance environment, you can use as much of an edge as you can get. Editing your work, and doing a good job of it, will establish you as a well-respected freelance writer.
• Looking over your work may prove tiresome after you've been staring at it for a long time, but as the editing process becomes second nature, you'll find errors easily and learn to write more efficiently. In a competitive freelance environment, you can use as much of an edge as you can get. Editing your work, and doing a good job of it, will establish you as a well-respected freelance writer.

DON'T:

• Rely on spellcheck. Too many freelance writers send their work with no editing other than spellcheck, which provides a false sense of security.
• Send your final copy late at night when you're tired. Many freelance writers work at night, and the quality of their work can suffer once creativity and energy begin to wane. Many editors don't work through the night and won't look at their projects before morning. Set your clock a little early and give your work a second read before meeting a deadline.
• Take on more projects than you can complete while still doing a good job. Murphy's Law states that freelance jobs are rare or rife. Rarely do we find balance. Know your limits and only take freelance jobs you know you can complete on time, on point and ready to print.
• Wait until the final deadline hour to edit your work. While many journalists are deadline junkies and work best under pressure, freelance writers must manage their time to complete the job to the best of their ability.

Linda C. Ray is a journalist without a newsroom at the moment. She gets her research and writing fix from freelance jobs with the Writers Research Group and various magazine and commercial gigs. To pay the bills, Ray has taken her considerable sales abilities and what she has learned pitching stories to editors, to the retail market. She's selling furniture in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina, writing on the back of sales slips when she's waiting for customers. You'll find her in the spring and summer at the drumming circle in downtown Asheville on Friday nights getting out all her frustrations loud and clear.

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