Rough Draft to Final Copy

Want to make another cooperative list? What are the most frequent changes you need to make to your work when you edit? I'll start out with my top two, then you can add your most common necessary edits in the comments and I'll add them to the list.

1. Removing punctuation. There's a reason my official title is Queen of Commas. I use way too many, so step number one in editing anything I write is taking excess commas out.
   
   Darren adds more in the removing punctuation department:

   Be careful not to use too many exclamation points! If you do, you'll have to just change them to periods later! When everything you write ends in an exclamation point, you don't look enthusiastic! You don't look like you are calling attention to important ideas! You just look like you've never done this before! (This is especially a challenge when writing marketing copy!)

   
   
2. Removing text. Words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs. Not needed? Hit the delete key, pffffft, it's gone! Tighter is better, unless the post is purposefully rambling.
   
   Kim says she repeats things, so I guess that means she has to remove text, too.

   I tend to repeat myself. I say the same thing several times. I say it in a different way. I think of a better way to say it. I use similar words.

   
   Paula also has to remove words:

   ....I find on second read, seven words work fine for the twelve I originally used.

   
   
3. Wayne Leman does a typo check. He says his fingers have a mind of their own.

   My spell checker can't catch all my typos because many of them are real words that my fingers know but they are different from the words my brains wants them to type.

   
   Paula needs a typo check, too.

   I tend to type fast so I end up wtih typos that transpose letters.

   
   
4. Brian has to add missing words.

   I end up thinking ahead and sometimes leave out complete phrases. Problem is, sometimes I even miss it when I proofread.

   Kim is a "missing words" person, too.
   
   
5. Tim doesn't understand apostrophes. Kim tells him the solution is to read the book Eats, Shoots and Leaves