Hello Samantha,

Three of the most important aspects of good writing are clarity (which often includes being concise), organization and grammar. These are the things I work on most in my clients' writing.

As for specific examples, I am not sure that I can give you any of those. What I suggest is that writers read every sentence they write and decide whether it is truly necessary, or whether it has in fact already been stated elsewhere.

Some people find it useful to make an outline first in order to improve their organizational skills. The formula is: first you tell them what you're going to tell them, then you tell them, then you tell them what you told them :)

To assist with grammar, I recommend that every writer have a copy of Strunk and White's 'The Elements of Style' close to hand. 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves' is also a very useful (and amusing) reference for grammar. Typical errors are split infinitives, which/that confusions, ambiguous referents, misspellings generally and incorrect usage of colons and semicolons.

I hope this is helpful and I would be delighted to assist you. Perhaps it would be useful for you to submit a free sample so you can get an idea of my editing.

Best,

Nyanidoc