Editing Is Where Good Writing Actually Happens
Writers often judge themselves on the first draft, which is the one part of the process that was never meant to be good. Drafting is for discovering what you think. Editing is for making it usable.
Separate the two jobs
Drafting and editing use opposite instincts. One generates without judgement; the other cuts without mercy. Doing both at once produces slow, timid writing — you rewrite the same sentence six times and never reach the end.
Write the whole thing badly. Then fix it. The order matters more than the talent.
Edit in passes, not all at once
Trying to fix structure, tone, and word choice simultaneously means doing all three poorly. Take one concern per pass: first does the argument hold, then does each paragraph earn its place, then are the sentences clean.
Each pass is faster than the tangled version, and you stop polishing sentences you were going to delete anyway.
Cut before you add
The instinct when something reads badly is to explain more. Usually the fix is less. Remove the throat-clearing opener, the restated point, the example that repeats the previous example.
If the draft still doesn't work after cutting, then add — but you'll be adding to something clearer.
Let it cool
Editing immediately after writing means editing with the draft still in your head, so you read what you intended rather than what is on the page. Even ten minutes away restores enough distance to catch it.
When you can't wait, change the context: read it aloud, or in a different font. Anything that makes the text feel like someone else's.