Doubt.

If you’re a writer, the d-word plagues you daily.

Is your writing good enough? Is your writing ever going to be good enough?

Writing confidently is more than just feeling good about the thoughts that exit your brain and form neatly arranged words in a document.

To remove doubt, old-fashioned TLC has to be an integral part of your artistic lifestyle.

Here are 12 editing solutions that help you care for yourself and your writing.

Hug Your Ideas

1. Express yourself creatively.

If complete sentences stifle your ideas, use bullet points, charts, or pictures for your first draft. Nurture your ideas rather than worry about making them sound good for someone else.

2. Keep writing.

Fully develop your ideas before you edit. Don’t delete anything until it’s time to revise your content.

3. Warm up with a tangent.

Expand on a tangent that you’re passionate about but you know you won’t use in your final draft. Writing can become effortless when you focus on something that’s on your mind, as if you’re talking to a friend. Afterward, you’ll more naturally communicate your actual topic.

4. Break it down.

Pay attention to one underdeveloped area of your content. That’s your only writing task for that day. Forget about everything else.

Hug Your Writing

5. Forget you.

Proofread slowly to confirm that your concepts are easy to comprehend. Does your message make sense to someone else?

6. Highlight all punctuation.

Those pretty symbols help guide your reader. Are commas, dashes, and semicolons used correctly? Did you write “it’s” instead of “its”?

7. Change the font.

When you are ready to edit, review your text in a different font (and perhaps even a different size) to get a fresh perspective.

8. Print it out.

Inconsistencies, abrupt transitions, and repetitive text are just a few types of writing weaknesses that become obvious when proofreading a printed document.

Hug Yourself

9. Eat.

When was the last time you had something nutritious to eat or a drink of water? Give your body fuel and your writing worries won’t seem as daunting.

10. Rest.

Stay healthy to make your job easier. The perfect phrases will inevitably appear. You can’t force or rush the process.

11. Watch.

Your eyes are probably tired of looking at words, but who doesn’t love mindless TV or YouTube clips? View something enjoyable and inspirational before you fix a messy section of your text.

12. Move.

If you’re fed up with your writing, stop. Let go of the clenched fists and furrowed brow. Find peace elsewhere. You can walk down the street, head to the gym, or simply stand in the shower. Sometimes the best thing that you can do for your writing is leave it alone.

Stefanie Flaxman created Revision Fairy® Small Business Proofreading Services with your editing needs in mind. Follow @RevisionFairy and take a free copy of Your Ultimate Online Proofreading Guide for Better Writing.

“Writing is mostly a mind game. It’s about tricking yourself into becoming who you are. If you do this long enough, you begin to believe it. And pretty soon, you start acting like it.” ~ Jeff Goins

I started sporadically reading GoinsWriter sometime last year. I liked Jeff’s guest posts on other blogs but wasn’t an avid follower of his work.

Around the first of this year, I did a little Google Reader clean up and decided to subscribe to Jeff’s blog when I ditched some old sites that no longer interested me. It soon became one of my daily favorites.

If you’re an artist who’s simultaneously bubbling with passion and grounded in reality, you’ll dig Jeff. He’s my kind of writer.

I had the pleasure of reading his new ebook, You Are a Writer, and I’m enthused about its potential impact.

Jeff addresses a view that I’ve personally held for a long time. Writers must give up talking about themselves with meaningless adjectives, such as “aspiring” or “not professional.” These concepts may have once held value, but they are outdated.

You Are a Writer is, quite simply, a wake-up call to what you are capable of achieving—right now. It’s backed up with Jeff’s personal journey through self-doubt to self-actualization to blogger to book deal. This guy is living his writing dream and he’s excited about sharing his experiences to help you live out yours.

You may know deep in your soul that you’re a writer—that nothing would make you happier than sharing your words with the world—but you just have no idea how to make the activity of writing a part of your existence. You Are a Writer guides you through the process of contemporary writing and transforms your outlook on possibility.

Life is full of obligations; writing, at the very least, can seem a bit lofty and impractical. However, if that’s what’s going to make you happy, it must become a priority. Your happiness is never lofty and impractical. It’s mandatory.

Here’s a video of Jeff sharing the motivation behind You Are a Writer:

The book is available now at YouAreAWriter.com. It’s educational and entertaining. You’ll probably read it more than once, as it’s the type of text that will continually inspire you.

Go get a copy!

Stefanie Flaxman is a writer. She created Revision Fairy® Small Business Proofreading Services with your editing needs in mind. Follow @RevisionFairy and take a free copy of Your Ultimate Online Proofreading Guide for Better Writing.

I cringe—CRINGE!—at the thought of something that I used to do.

It’s something that you may have done at some point, too.

When you first start working as a freelance copy editor, you want to make it known whenever possible that you excel at spotting writing mistakes.

On a very basic level, the ability to find and correct errors is the skill set that you need to monetize; you have to show others that you have the eagle eye that they need to fix their copy.

The Internet fuels your next destructive step.

You go hunting for mistakes.

On your favorite blogs. On your favorite websites. Twitter.

You comment. You email. You @-reply.

You smile to yourself, thinking how clever you are for initiating contact with someone you’d like to work with by “doing work for free”—proving what a great freelance copy editor you are.

I never got any work this way.

Hell, I barely got responses. If I did, I’m sure it took a load of patience not to tell me off.

When you point out a stranger’s error, he doesn’t think, “Wow! This woman is really good. I need a copy editor, and I’m going to hire her!”

In fact, if Your Target does ever need a copy editor, he’s not going to hire a random know-it-all (because that’s what you look like—whether you are or not).

If a writer doesn’t realize on his own that he needs someone else to edit or proofread his text, your unsolicited alert—that not so subtly demonstrates your Skillz—will not persuade him.

The realization that you need a copy editor to review your writing reveals a basic
problem-solving lesson: the first step is acknowledging the problem. And that has to come from within.

Stefanie Flaxman created Revision Fairy® Small Business Proofreading Services with your editing needs in mind. Follow @RevisionFairy and take a free copy of Your Ultimate Online Proofreading Guide for Better Writing.

The Internet is oodles and oodles full of special sauce.

Today’s flavor? Grammar.

If you don’t internalize a grammar lesson, it’s not going to prevent you from making the same error again in the future. The tip must be easy to comprehend and practical.

I love concise guides that actually make a difference the next time that you sit down to write.

You can find 46 pages of pithy pointers in my first ebook, Revision Fairy Tales: 21 Writing Mistakes You’ll Never Make Again.

Last week on Copyblogger, BlueGlass combined old text posts about grammar mistakes into a handy infographic.

Take a look, and learn. (If you’re a real Grammar Inspector, make sure to look at #11 and then examine the headline of this post. I follow the rule that if you denote a measure of time, you use “less” rather than “fewer.”)

Like this infographic? Get more copywriting tips from Copyblogger.

About the Author: Stefanie Flaxman corrects business, marketing, and educational documents in 24 hours. Follow Stefanie on Twitter, and take a free copy of Your Ultimate Online Proofreading Guide for Better Writing.

In my last post, I discussed an ineffective way to engage a service provider when you’re looking online for writing help.

To complement my report on what you shouldn’t do, it’s appropriate to outline a refresher on business email etiquette—what you should do.

When you visit my website, the Proofreading Menu lists the following pricing structure:

Proofreading services and editorial consulting are $0.02 per word.

For documents 10,000 words or less, you can choose your preferred turnaround time. There is a specific fee for each turnaround time.

12 hours (Members Only): $0.22 per word

24 hours: $0.18 per word

48 hours: $0.14 per word

72 hours: $0.12 per word

Your total fee = ($0.02 + turnaround time fee) x word count.

How should you proceed if your writing needs are different than those specifications?

Here are 10 ways to let me know via email that you’re serious about hiring a proofreader or writer for your business.

1. Address me by name.

When you start a verbal dialogue about a possible business relationship, you greet the person you talk to by name. This exchange should be the same in email.

2. Utilize the email ‘subject’ line.

If you send me an email instead of using my contact form, create a subject line that summarizes your needs.

3. How did you hear about me?

Let me know why you think I can help you.

4. What kind of documents would you like me to proofread?

Blog posts? Newsletters? Sales copy? Press releases? White papers?

5. How long are your documents?

Price quotes are based on word count.

6. What do you need that’s different than my standard proofreading services?

Is your document longer than 10,000 words? Do you need rewriting or writing services? Do you have an on-going project or projects?

7. What’s your preferred turnaround time?

I aim to meet your deadlines, so state when you need your revised document returned to you.

8. What’s your budget for my standard services?

If my standard services fit your editorial needs, but your project’s administration requires special attention, what’s your budget for your proposed work arrangement?

9. What’s your budget for a custom project?

If you’d like me to work on a project with customized editorial and administrative components, what’s your budget?

10. Familiarize yourself with my Terms of Service.

It’s clearly stated on my website that I only conduct business over email. Composing a succinct note helps you focus on the desired outcome for your project.

Your written correspondence is essentially a job ad. You want to hire someone to perform work for you, so describe specific details about the ideal person you want to add to your team. Feel free to ask questions about what I will do to ensure that you are thrilled with my editorial work.

About the Author: Stefanie Flaxman corrects business, marketing, and educational documents in 24 hours. Follow Stefanie on Twitter, and sign up for Revision Fairy Premium Membership to get 50% off online proofreading services.

A wise woman once said:

“My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard. And they’re, like, it’s better than yours. Damn right, it’s better than yours. I could teach you, but I’d have to charge.”

Yes, I’m talking about the 2003 pop hit, “Milkshake,” by Kelis—the song that was once my ringtone on my old NOKIA flip phone.

Still with me?

I often discuss my proofreading services as a business. Though this may seem obvious, there’s something about the Internet that gives people the impression that what you offer is less valuable than, say, if I offered in-person writing and proofreading services.

I recently got an email that exemplifies what online business owners tend to experience.

My inbox displayed a message from a woman who downloaded one of my free ebooks; let’s call her Complainy McPricerson. It’s important to note that emails like Complainy’s are often difficult to decipher from spam—she did not address me by name, and each line was a fragment with incorrect punctuation.

Complainy said that she liked my website, but she found my prices “confusing and disappointing”—specifically, that I charge $0.02 per word plus a turnaround time fee. She continued to inform me that she wanted to send me a document, but it would “cost her too much.”

Here’s my basic pricing structure.

Proofreading services and editorial consulting are $0.02 per word.

For documents 10,000 words or less, you can choose your preferred turnaround time. There is a specific fee for each one.

12 hours (Members Only): $0.22 per word

24 hours: $0.18 per word

48 hours: $0.14 per word

72 hours: $0.12 per word

Your total fee = ($0.02 + turnaround time fee) x word count.

You get to select your turnaround time so that I can give you exactly what you want.

If you need a document corrected in 24 hours, that’s possible. You pay the appropriate fee, and I make your work my first priority. Simple.

If you don’t need a document corrected for a week or two, your fee will, generally speaking, be less expensive.

I also offer a Premium Membership that qualifies you for 50% off the total price of each order that you place online and 12-hour turnaround. A one-time payment of $99 activates those benefits for one year.

Although I outline my prices on my site, half of the work that I do is based on customized price quotes. I understand that many projects do not fit within the boundaries that I describe, so I’m happy to work with clients to meet their specific needs. Multiple spots on my site welcome clients to email me about pricing if my proofreading menu does not answer their questions.

But when someone emails me and—instead of telling me the details of her project with hope to work out a reasonable price—tells me that my prices are “disappointing” and she can’t afford it, I don’t want to work with that person anyway.

If you don’t have money, you’re not a client—you want something for free.

Would you go into Starbucks and tell the barista that you want to buy a Carmel Macchiato but you can’t afford it?

For some reason, people think that it’s acceptable to talk to online business owners this way.

It also takes a bit of nerve to express that what I charge to make a living is “too much” just because it’s too much for you.

When Danielle LaPorte sent out an email to her list stating that she’s offering an unpaid internship for six months, she got an abundance of negative feedback from people who disapproved of her looking for someone who would work for free.

Here is part of her response:

“Assumptions kill courage and creativity.

Assumptions squash opportunities before they fully present themselves. Assumptions hurt your chances, people’s feelings, and your pride. Assumptions will keep you right where you are. If you avoid assumptions, you can make more amazing things happen.”

If you know anything about Danielle, you’d immediately realize the benefits of working with someone with her business experience.

In this case, monetary compensation isn’t everything and the assumption that Danielle wouldn’t care about the person that she’s taking under her wing is ridiculous. I’d jump at the opportunity to proofread her content or snag the fiercest gold hoop earrings for her, if I got the chance to see her in action!

I love working with writers, but you need to tell me what you need and the price range that works for you before I can help you. If you assume that I won’t be flexible with my prices—well, I won’t be.

In regard to the title of this post, the phrase “Get Lost” is the polite way to write my original thought when I read Complainy McPricerson’s email. Hint: the thought starts with an “F” and ends with “Off.”

 About the Author: Stefanie Flaxman corrects business, marketing, and educational documents in 24 hours. She’s a writing consultant and the founder of Revision Fairy® Small Business Proofreading Services. Follow Stefanie on Twitter, and sign up for Revision Fairy Premium Membership to get 50% off online proofreading services.

The jig is up: I offer online proofreading services, but I’m not actually a proofreader.

I’m not actually a copy editor, either.

My creative work with words varies.

Sometimes, I proofread.

Sometimes, I copy edit.

Sometimes, I do both.

Sometimes, I rewrite rough drafts.

Sometimes, I even write content.

The thing is—writers don’t always know what they need.

That’s why I created Revision Fairy.

Revision Fairy is a revision philosophy, implemented by—not a proofreader, not a copy editor, but—a word artist.

For me, reading and manipulating your text is an artistic craft.

I call Revision Fairy “proofreading services” because that’s the starting point.

You wrote something, and it’s perfect.

TO YOU.

But you know that you’re not objective. You’re attached to the work that you’ve just written.

You need someone else to look at it, to proofread it, and then guide you in the right direction.

Are there spelling and grammar errors? Are there typos? Does it lack a logical structure? Do you need more explanations or cohesive transitions? Do you need to condense similar, or repetitive, thoughts? Do you need to delete irrelevant tangents? Do you fail to communicate your point?

When you don’t know exactly what your writing needs, but you want to make it better, clearer—a home run—that’s what Revision Fairy does.

My revision process is a combination of content editing, copy editing, and proofreading.

After I review your work, you get an error-free draft annotated with additional suggestions for improvement.

If your writing is strong, the draft may only contain minor copy editing and proofreading changes. If your writing is weak, some sections may be rewritten.

I’ll happily follow your instructions if you know the specific type of revision work that you need.

If you know that you just need copy editing, I can just copy edit your writing.

If you know that you just need proofreading, I can just proofread your writing.

But sometimes, you need more support.

Sometimes, you need Revision Fairy.

– Click here to find out more about my proofreading services. –

About the Author: Stefanie Flaxman corrects business, marketing, and educational documents in 24 hours. She’s a writing consultant and the founder of Revision Fairy® Small Business Proofreading Services. Follow Stefanie on Twitter, and sign up for Revision Fairy Premium Membership to get 50% off online proofreading services.

If you need to hire a small business writer, there are a number of prerequisites that you should figure out before you approach candidates.

It’s not all about the writer’s qualifications.

Communication is key when forming a new business relationship.

Once you establish guidelines for your writer, it’s also easier to find the perfect person for the job.

Here’s a 20-point checklist to review as you search for a small business writer.

 [_] You have to know what you want the results to look like before you can effectively tell someone what to do. If you hire a writer simply to “let someone else think about that work,” you can expect bumps in the road.

A writer’s vision for your project may not match what you have in mind. If you don’t provide detailed specifications, you’ll likely be disappointed when you see the final product.

 [_] Who is the writer’s contact when he or she has questions? What’s the best way to reach that contact? Email? Phone? Instant message? Text message?

Providing your writer with this information helps determine if your company’s preferred communication method fits with the writer’s preferred communication method. For instance, I conduct business correspondence through email only.

 [_] What computer software must the writer use for your project? Word? Excel? PowerPoint? Acrobat? InDesign?

 [_]  What type of file do you need? A Word doc? Plain text? PDF? Google Document?

 [_] If you’re hiring a writer to blog for you, will she directly access your blogging platform (WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, etc.) and post the content herself, or will she submit the raw text to you?

 [_] How will you assign work? If you assign a project via email, does the writer need to immediately confirm receipt?

When you order proofreading services online with Revision Fairy, you get instant confirmation that your order was received. You also promptly receive an invoice. Once the invoice is paid, the turnaround time that you selected begins. I will return your revised document to you by that deadline.

 [_] Will you assign work on a set schedule, or will you give the writer an on-going task to complete daily, weekly, or monthly?

 [_] What standard instructions will you give the writer with each assignment? Word count? Keywords? Topic? Deadline? Submission format?

 [_] Does the writer need to submit any supplementary materials, such as images, sources, captions, or footnotes?

[_] What is your desired turnaround time for each project? When is the writer’s deadline or due date?

[_] How do you want the final product delivered? Email? A shared Google document? Do you need it mailed or faxed?

 [_] Is it appropriate to give your writer a byline for his or her content, or is your project ghostwriting?

 [_] What is your payment structure? Per word, per hour, or per project? Is your payment structure negotiated with each assignment, or is there a set fee for any writing services?

 [_] Does your writer need to invoice you?

 [_] What is your payment method? Check, direct deposit, or PayPal?

 [_] Do you reimburse for expenses, or are all expenses included in the writer’s standard fee?

 [_] When do you pay your writer? Per project? Weekly? Bi-monthly? Monthly? Do you pay a 50% deposit at the onset of a project?

There should be no confusion about how and when the writer will be paid.

 [_] Do you have an online proofreader, or does the writer also need to meticulously proofread his or her content? Is an occasional punctuation, spelling, or grammar error acceptable? What matters the most to you—accuracy or speed? Both?

 [_] How much work do you anticipate assigning your writer? Is it steady work or sporadic?

 [_] Will your writing needs evolve, or do you strictly need the writer for one type of project?

For example, will the writer mainly ghostblog for you, but you’d also like him or her to occasionally write press releases, newsletters, white papers, sales letters, etc.?

When you hire a small business writer, view the process as growing a relationship with a reliable professional. You’re not just carelessly outsourcing work.

– Is there a small business writer specification that I’m missing? Mention @RevisionFairy on Twitter, and include #SmallBusinessWriter. –

About the Author: Stefanie Flaxman corrects business, marketing, and educational documents in 24 hours. She’s a writing consultant and the founder of Revision Fairy® Small Business Proofreading Services. Follow Stefanie on Twitter, and sign up for Revision Fairy Premium Membership to get 50% off online proofreading services.

UPDATED APRIL 25, 2012 —

Free samples are no longer available. Please refer to my Proofreading Menu for standard prices.

I don’t offer free proofreading services.

Proofreading is not a hobby for me. It’s not a complimentary service that I help you with in my spare time.

Proofreading is what I do.

But a free proofreading sample?

That’s a different story.

It’s my business to help you with your business.

When you order proofreading services, you make an investment in your company. You want flawless writing that impresses clients and co-workers.

So, during your search to hire a freelance proofreader, you may want to see results before you make a big time and money commitment.

In August, I offered a limited-time free proofreading sample along with Revision Fairy Premium Membership.

Now there’s a way for anyone to try Revision Fairy for free, even if Premium Membership isn’t right for you.

Are you a new Revision Fairy client with a document that is 400 words or less? Let me proofread it for free!

Your FREE sample proofreading will:

• Correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes
• Catch typos or glaring errors you may have missed
• Check for factual consistency
• Give feedback on incomplete or weak areas of your text
• Ensure your message is clear
• Offer advice about what you need to improve or clarify
• Alert you to the #1 thing your writing is missing
• Teach you tips to avoid the same mistakes in the future
• Provide you with an error-free draft annotated with additional guidance

Please contact me about the type of 400-word document that you’d like me to proofread (choose “free sample” from the drop-down menu), and I’ll email you details about how we’ll proceed.

♦ Free Proofreading Services … Get a Sample Today! ♦

About the Author: Stefanie Flaxman corrects business, marketing, and educational documents in 24 hours. She’s a writing consultant and the founder of Revision Fairy® Small Business Proofreading Services. Follow Stefanie on Twitter, and sign up for Revision Fairy Premium Membership to get 50% off online proofreading services.

Last week, I wrote a guest blog post for ProBlogger.

How to Write a Blog Post Like a Troublemaker with a Heart of Gold is the second article that I’ve written for the site.

Many thanks to Georgina and Darren for the opportunity!

If you haven’t read it yet, check out an excerpt below:

In a world overflowing with bloggers, there’s the type of troublemaker you love and the type of troublemaker you hate.

One introduces his opinion with a strong argument. You admire that he’s confident and direct. The writer makes you jealous. You want to be that troublemaker.

When you write a blog post like a troublemaker with a heart of gold, you’re not really causing problems at all. You’re an expert with invaluable tips to share. Others look to you for guidance. They want to hear more from you and enthusiastically subscribe to your blog.

You’re the troublemaker who fights for your readers. You give them a voice and help them with solid advice.

I call this type the “Attractive Troublemaker.”

The other type of blogger takes the common online writing tip to “take a stand and be bold” too far. His blog posts are rants about his opinions, which he treats as facts. He doesn’t provide educational details or links to resources that support his points.

“This is what I think, and if you disagree with me, you’re stupid,” is the theme of every post that he writes. It’s offensive.

I call this type the “Average Troublemaker.”

If you want to influence others and retain visitors, blogging is not about your opinion and why the opposite is “wrong.” You have an opportunity to help readers make positive changes in their lives.

The Average Troublemaker creates a hostile environment rather than an information hub where visitors get useful updates and respectfully interact with each other. The Attractive Troublemaker encourages a welcoming community.

Here are five ways to write a blog post like an Attractive Troublemaker.

To read the entire blog post, click here.

About the Author: Stefanie Flaxman corrects business, marketing, and educational documents in 24 hours. She’s a writing consultant and the founder of Revision Fairy® Small Business Proofreading Services. Follow Stefanie on Twitter, and sign up for Revision Fairy Premium Membership to get 50% off online proofreading services.