Lesson 19: Your Writing Checklist

Lesson 19:
Build Your Own Checklist

In this lesson, you learned:

 How to know when your writing hits the mark.

 How to stop worrying whether your writing is "good enough". (It is.)
 How to keep your mental editor under your control and not the other way
around.

This worksheet will help you put your new knowledge into practice. Print it out and use it
immediately for tangible results.

You'll also want to print a copy of this worksheet and keep it handy in a folder, as you may
need it later in the course.

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 Lesson 19: Your Writing Checklist

E
ditorial checklists are fantastic, because they provide you with simple "don't forget this"
cues and reduce the stress of guesswork about whether your piece is 'good enough'.
You'll walk away knowing nothing slipped through the cracks.

Your editorial checklist will be very personal and unique, different from anyone else's and
include what YOU feel makes for a good piece of writing.

An editorial checklist also helps you align your validation needle towards 'internal' (remember
Lesson 3?), and you won't require someone else's subjective opinion to approve of your work.

Once you’ve finished writing, you can pull out your editorial checklist, run down the list, add
what you’re missing, and voila! Your content will meet your personal standards – and that's
really all that ever counts.

Right now, think of something you wrote that you really love. Something you feel good about. It
doesn’t have to be perfect, but it should be content that makes you swell with pride when you
read it.

Go find that piece now. Read it, and as you do, ask yourself WHY you like it. Get specific, and
think both factually ("It's concise and sticks to the point") and emotionally ("It has good energy
and makes me feel happy").

Write down what you like about this piece here:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

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 Lesson 19: Your Writing Checklist

Now think of another writer's work you admire or enjoy. This person can be an author, a
blogger, a journalist… anything goes. Track down something that author wrote.

Read some of his or her content, and as before, ask yourself WHY you like this writer's work.
Get specific, and think both factually ("He uses short sentences") and emotionally ("Her
descriptions are so vivid in my mind").

Write down what you like about this author's work here:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Look at the list above, and think about whether any of the points you listed about what you
liked of that writer's work can be incorporated into your own work.

If your favourite author writes short, punchy sentences, could you add more short, punchy
sentences to your content? If your favourite blogger always starts a post with a personal story,
can you add more story to your content? If your favourite content-marketer writes clean,
straightforward copy, can you be more straightforward in yours?

You don't have to replicate your favourite authors and writers, but if you like and enjoy the type
of content they write, or the style they use, why not give it a try?

Your writing will still have your own unique flavour and style, and by adding a few new touches,
it might just get closer to what you'd really like to see it become.

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 Lesson 19: Your Writing Checklist

Now it's time to be more practical. Think back over what you've learned in the Damn Fine
Words writing course – all the tricks, techniques and lessons.

What do you feel you need to remember to add into your writing? Is there any element you
want to make sure you include? You might say "add 3 bullet points" or "visualize my ideal
reader" or "add a touch of humour" or "double-check for typos and punctuation" – anything
goes.

Write down the elements you want to add here:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Now, taking every point you wrote in each section above, you're going to build your own
editorial checklist. You'll begin on the next page.

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 Lesson 19: Your Writing Checklist

Creating Your Editorial Checklist

You're going to build an editorial checklist – a list of items and elements you want to be sure to
add to every piece of content you write.

Look over all the points you listed in previous sections – what you love about your own work,
what you love about someone else's work, and what you want to remember from the DFW
lessons – and copy the ones you want to always use in your writing into the blank checklist at
the end of this worksheet.

When done, you'll be able to print out your editorial checklist and keep it by your side each
time you write. Refer to it, and check each item off as you add it to your content. You'll know
you've covered everything!

Be SMART when deciding on what goes into your editorial checklist. Make sure all points are:

 Specific
 Measurable
 Actionable
 Realistic
 Timely

… or as much as they possibly can be.

How do you know whether you've chosen SMART checklist items? Make sure the items you
add to your editorial checklist are all within your control and don't require an outside opinion.

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 Lesson 19: Your Writing Checklist

For example, "make sure it gets comments" wouldn't be a great item to add to your checklist,
because whether people choose to comment or not is completely outside your control. "Add a
question that might encourage comments at the end of the piece" would be a better choice.

Avoid any item that can't be answered with "yes" or "no", because that also signals something
outside your control. For example, "Will people smile when they read this?" would not be good
to add, because you honestly have no idea. "Did I include humour?" is much better, and you
can answer that with a quick yes or no, then tick off your checklist box.

Go ahead – print out the next two pages and fill them in.

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 Lesson 19: Your Writing Checklist

Your Editorial Checklist

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 Lesson 19: Your Writing Checklist

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