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The Confident Writer

The Confident Writer. Chapter 6: Revising and Editing Your Essays. Every word in an essay should serve a purpose. Avoid clutter in your essay: Delete extra prepositions Free up > free Head up > head Avoid euphemisms

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The Confident Writer

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  1. The Confident Writer Chapter 6: Revising and Editing Your Essays

  2. Every word in an essay should serve a purpose. • Avoid clutter in your essay: • Delete extra prepositions • Free up > free • Head up > head • Avoid euphemisms • “Put brackets around every component in a piece of writing that [isn’t] doing useful work.” “Clutter” by William Zinsser

  3. Think of your first draft as your discovery draft. • Every subsequent draft is a revision in which you are improving: • Content • Organization • Style How to Revise Your Essay

  4. How to Revise Your Essay Last weekend I had fun with my friends. Traffic was terrible this weekend. I saw the worst movie yesterday. I have very definite opinions about big issues. Improve the Content What is a generality? How do we improve general statements? Add content How do we revise for content? Read for content. Underline general words, phrases, statements, etc. Make notes about where to add content.

  5. How to Revise Your Essay Achieve Better Organization Have you followed the direction of development? Are all 3 parts fulfilling the needed functions? Make an outline to determine what is there and what needs revising.

  6. How to Revise Your Essay Sharpen Your Style Style is how you express yourself in writing. 3 components of style: Diction Tone Sentence Variety Determine if your tone is topic-appropriate. Underline descriptive words—convey tone?!! Consider list of tone words in Figure 6.2 on pp. 141. Style

  7. Definition Causes • Surface errors are mistakes in: • Grammar • Punctuation • Spelling • Surface errors result from: • Inconsistent application of the rules of Standard English • Careless mistakes that occur when you pay more attention to content than to mechanics Eliminating Surface Errors

  8. Edit for Grammar, Punctuation, & Spelling Learn from Your Mistakes • Become aware of the kind of mistakes you make • Track your mistakes • Which ones are you making? • How do you fix them? • Proofread • Check for correctly punctuated sentences • Check for spelling errors • Use your returned essays to compete the chart in Figure 6.4 on pp. 145. • What trends do you see? Eliminating Surface Errors

  9. Trimming & Tightening means editing to eliminate the following: • Wordiness • Why use 2 words when you can use 1?!! • Passive Voice • Change passive voice to active voice • The subject of the sentence should performthe action not receiveit! • Tired Expressions • If you’ve heard it a million times before, it’s a cliché. Leave it out! • Look at Expression to Avoid (Figure 6.5 on pp. 149) Trim & Tighten Your Writing

  10. Use Proofreading Strategies Follow these steps for your final round of editing: Let your ideas incubate. Pace yourself. Read backwards. Read aloud. Use a writer’s tools. Proofread with a purpose.

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