Cut the parts that you’d be embarrassed to read aloud to your mother.Show off by not showing off, and, instead, getting straight to the point. Showing off - whether with big words, excessive intellectualism, or beautiful but superfluous prose - gets in the way of good writing. Match pronouns to content: Is it a personal narrative ( I did this, I thought that)? A sermon ( you should do this, you should do that)? A sermon masquerading as objective analysis ( one should do this, one should think that)? As you have probably noticed, this is a sermon.Cut needless words, sentences, paragraphs, and sections.Adjust paragraph and sentence length to match the pace of the content.Put first things first so that the reader knows all they need to know to understand what they’re reading.Make sure the piece flows well, and scene (fiction) or section (nonfiction) transitions are smooth and logical.… and that the ending is strong, and pulls in and resolves as many narrative threads as possible.

… and that the opening pulls the reader in, arouses their curiosity, and makes them want to know more.

Make sure the piece is complete and gets across what you’re trying to communicate.

Make it as easy as possible for the reader to understand what you’re saying, and do your best to counter the effects of the “Curse of Knowledge”.

It saves a lot of embarrassment later on.

Check that the facts are, in fact, factual.

Fiction: check for plot holes, bad science (real or invented), handy coincidences that move the plot while the characters sit around and watch, and characters doing things that are out of character to move the plot.

Non-fiction: check that your assumptions about the subject are correct, and that your conclusions follow logically from the starting point.

Double check your logic: implausibility loses readers faster than you can say Hack Robinson.

Otherwise, why would they bother to read it?

If you write horror, you may want to strike discord in the reader’s heartstrings - but even if the content isn’t positive, the piece should benefit the reader in some way. Make sure the piece has a positive emotional and/or intellectual effect on the reader.If you’re investing effort revising the piece, you’ve already ticked off this checkbox. Why did you write the piece? Is what you’re trying to say worth saying? Does the piece say what you are trying to say. Don’t waste the reader’s precious time on earth, or yours.

My editing checklist