Writing is editing, rewriting and reviewing

Today I am working at home, because some strong and skillful looking men are renovating my roof vault (in Dutch: "dakkapel"). Luckily I had one thing on my agenda, editing, editing and editing. I have to rewrite my first scientific paper, because I want to send it to my co-authors in the beginning of next month. So today it is about making order in all my chaotic brain waves and scribbles, during the loud noise from above.

The title of this blog post is my way of living for the last few weeks (oh and "be concise and focus", but that is another story). I've started a course in English article writing, because as you would have noticed (and some of my good friends commented), my writing is not perfect or even close to perfect. So, every wednesday, I am sitting in a classroom with 12 of my peers, learning about the wonders of the English writing process. One of the most important lessons is: "Writing is editing, rewriting and reviewing".

But what is the best way to do this? These are my tips and tricks I learned from other blogs, teachers and fellow students:

• Put the review article in a drawer for a week (fresh start)
• Switch off your computer, or switch off internet (no distraction)
• Go sit in front of nothing (brick wall, or something. Again no distraction)
• Coffee!
• Get a red pen, black pen and a blue pen (different colors for different edits)
• Don't edit everything in the first run (grammar, structure, argumentation, figures, etc...)
• Use a English-English dictionary, grammar book and style guide.

So for now, put on the kettle and get my pens writing. I am ready to edit!