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?