Now that you’ve read through and made simple changes to your first draft, it’s time to tackle the second. Self-editing a second draft is the time for focusing on the smaller issues you might’ve overlooked on the first edit, such as passive versus active voice and specific grammar inconsistencies.

Before you begin, it’s useful to form a list of issues you want to look out for while editing.

While forming your list, you should keep in mind the excessive use of passive voice and grammatical inconsistencies. Passive voice in writing relies on “to be” verbs such as “are, was, be, or have been.” In the active voice, the subject completes the “action.”

For example, the sentence “The horse was ridden by Sarah,” is in the passive voice. On the other hand, the sentence “Sarah rode the horse,” is written in the active voice. While both sentences convey the same message, the active voice reads clearer and more direct.

You should also keep grammar inconsistencies on your radar. You want to make sure the verb tenses remain uniform across your writing. If you’re writing in the present tense, ensure your verbs consistently adhere to it. It’s easy to make small mistakes that read similarly, for example, “Mathew goes to the park and sees dozens of birds” maintains consistency. “Goes” and “sees” are both in the present tense. However, the sentence “Mathew goes to the park and saw dozens of birds” contains tense discrepancies. While “goes” remains in the present tense,

“saw” shifts the sentence to past tense.

Subject-verb agreement is also important. In the simplest definition, subject-verb agreement requires a singular verb to describe a singular subject, and vice versa. This seems quite simple, but is something many writers, including myself, can overlook. Agreement errors often occur when a plural prepositional phrase follows a singular subject, making the subject appear plural to a hasty eye. For example, the subject and verb in “This batch of cookies taste amazing” disagree, even though it reads naturally. Grammatically, the plural object of the preposition, “cookies,” describes the true subject, “batch” – a singular noun. Therefore, to achieve subject-verb agreement, the sentence should read “This batch of cookies tastes amazing.” This super simple edit does wonders for improving the quality of your writing.

You should also pay attention to words you might accidentally overuse. According to thesaurus.com, “said, moved, very, and looked” are some of the most overused English words in creative writing. When editing, you might look out for these words and any you personally overuse, then try to find adjacent terms.

Finally, hearing your writing read aloud can help you notice obvious mistakes. I typically read my writing aloud myself, but recruiting a friend is just as beneficial.