So, how did you do?

Here is the paragraph with its mistakes:

Writing clear, concise sentences is it’s own reward. Properly-written documents not only convey to to you’re clients that your professional, it shows them you take the time to get it right. When you present letters and materials with careless mistakes, clients are left wondering what you’ll do with there work.

And here are the corrections:

1. Writing is its own reward. Its is the possessive here; it's is the contraction of it and is.

2. Properly written. Adverbs automatically modify the words they precede so there is no need to link them to adjectives with a hyphen.

3. to. You only need one of these words.

4. your clients. Your is the pronoun here; you're is the contraction of you and are.

5. you’re professional. You are professional takes the contraction, not the pronoun your.

6. they show. The antecedent is properly written documents, which requires the plural pronoun they.

7. get facts right. There is no antecedent for this it.

8. their work. You need the pronoun here, not the place.

That 50-word paragraph is tighter and cleaner as this 43-word one:

Clear, concise sentences are their own reward. Properly written documents not only convey professionalism, they show that you take the time to get facts right. If you are careless with your own work, clients will wonder how careless you will be with theirs.

If you missed any of those mistakes, you need an editor.

It is extremely difficult to copy edit your own work. Editing is a special skill separate from writing and requires fresh eyes. Professional writers have editors and copy editors who read behind them to catch errors in both content and style.

Let my eyes catch those mistakes before your target audience sees them.

Contact me at Lucy@LucyEdits.com or (954) 270-2239 to talk about your editing needs.

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