Checklist to

Prepare Your Work for Submission, and to

Increase Your Readership & Therefore Commissions




Have I followed the Writers’ Guidelines?

  • Where in my writing can I bring in more direct and meaningful value to my reader?
  • Have I written in simple, straightforward English?
  • Where does my writing need to be fact-checked for accuracy (for legal reasons, and to build readership trust)?
  • Have I revised, proofread and edited?  Have I made changes based on:
    • My spellcheck and grammar-check software?
    • Editing software (such as grammarly.com)?
  • Have I added the publishing date to the body of my written work?

 

 

How can I make my writing more interesting and easier to read?

  • How can I rework my title and opening sentence so that the reader is more intrigued?  (Here are some ideas.)
  • Does my title and opening paragraph let the reader know what the piece is about?
  • Where can I add subheadings, bolding, numbered lists, sidebars and bullet points to break up chunks of  text so that readers can scan, skim and identify important takeaways?

 

 

Where can I strengthen clarity to convey meaning more effectively?

Precision & Concreteness

  • How could I tweak my expression so that my meaning is more exact, concrete and precise?  
  • Where could I use relatable examples (hypothetical or real) to illustrate my point(s)?
  • How can I more clearly state my main idea?
  • Where in my writing can I turn passive voice into active voice?
  • Where are there new or unfamiliar words that I can explain to increase understanding?

 

Concision

  • If I had to pay a dollar for every word, what words would I eliminate? What is least relevant to my thesis that I can cut out? (Fewer words can lead to stronger clarity).

 

Unity & Coherence

  • For each paragraph, how can I tweak things to increase each sentence’s ability to advance, support and explain the main point stated in the topic sentence?
  • How can I increase the capacity of each paragraph to advance the main topic of the document?
  • Where does a sentence or paragraph struggle to clearly relate to the one before it and the one following? Where can I coordinate sentences to sharpen the relationship between ideas, or show where ideas belong together?  Where can I subordinate sentences to show which one is the main statement?
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