editing-revising-tips

Do you have a paper to turn in at the end of the week and have finished typing up the last page?
Congratulations on finishing the rough draft... but the writing process is only half-finished at this point. NOW you have to begin the process of editing and revising your work. This can easily take just as long to complete as it did for you to write the entire rough draft so don't think MS Word Spell & Grammar check will be enough to get you by.


 * First:** You might need some help decoding and translating some of my short-hand. Here's a key to help you with that:


 * Second:**Here are some big areas to focus in on and questions to ask yourself as you look at your writing. I've arranged them in order of what is generally the most important areas of consideration**:**
 * 1) **Close Reading:** How accurately did you relay the information? Did your paper merely skim over the topic?
 * 2) **Thesis:** Does your paper have a strong, unifying thesis statement?
 * 3) **Essay Organization:** Does your essay have a clearly defined introduction and conclusion? Are your main body paragraphs organized in a logical and thoughtful manner?
 * 4) **Paragraph Organization:** Do your paragraphs contain a unifying topic sentence, substantial and details to support your topic sentence, and a concluding sentence to close that particular paragraph? How focused are your paragraphs?
 * 5) **Grammar & Sentence Structure:** Do your sentences follow the appropriate structural rules for simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences?
 * 6) **Style & Voice:** Do you use the appropriate POV for your paper? Do you become too colloquial/informal in your tone?
 * 7) **Wording & Phrasing:** Do your sentences sound awkward at times? How appropriate are your choices of words? Is your essay “wordy” at times?
 * 8) **MLA Manuscript Format:** See MLA Style Sheet
 * 9) **Punctuation:** Are you including punctuation when needed? **HINT:** **Check comma use!**
 * 10) **Spelling:** Are you reading through your paper or simply using MS Word Spell check? Keep an eye open for words that are spelled correctly but are //not// the words you //meant// to use.




 * Third:** Make sure you have a second set of eyes read through your paper to identify any errors you might have overlooked. Seek these second readers in the tutoring center, the writing center, or even fellow classmates or myself during posted office hours.


 * Fourth:** Can you HEAR a problem in someone's sentence writing more easily than you can SEE them? Try Natural Voice Reader. It's a free program for either PC or Apple that you can use to read your papers back to you as fast or slow as you like in a variety of voices! (I find Victoria or Agnes are the easiest to understand).

Download Natural Free Reader

//Still have difficulty organizing your paper? Try either the Essay or Paragraph Writing Outlines below!//