Editing Your Paper

What is EDITING?Editing is a stage of the writing

process in which a writer or editor strives to improve a draft by correcting errors.

The Texas curriculum says that writers should:Edit drafts for grammar, mechanics, and spelling.

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Defining EditingWhat’s the difference between revising and editing?

•Revision involves making changes to your paper’s organization, structure, and content

•Editing involves making sure your paper follows standard English and is free of grammatical and mechanical errors

Revision vs. EditingTry to keep the editing and revision

processes separate. When you are revising an early draft, you don’t want to be bothered with thinking about punctuation, grammar, and spelling.

If you’re worrying about the spelling of a word or the placement of a comma, you’re not focusing on the more important task of developing and connecting ideas.

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Editing in the Writing Process

Editing is the last stage of the writing process because during the revision stage there’s a good chance that you will delete entire sections of your work. Therefore, you don’t want to spend the time editing something that you’ll ultimately not use anyway!

I know what spelling is, but what are grammar and mechanics?Grammar is the way in which words are put together to form proper sentences.

Mechanics refers to the technical part of writing: the capitalization and punctuation.

Why edit? It’s the content that really matters, right?Content is important. But like it or

not, the way a paper looks affects the way others judge it. When you’ve worked hard to develop and present your ideas, you don’t want careless errors distracting your reader from what you have to say. It’s worth paying attention to the details that help you to make a good impression.

EDITING AdviceEdit for only one kind of error at a time. If you

try to identify too many things at once, you risk losing focus, and your editing will be less effective.

It’s easier to catch grammar errors if you aren’t checking punctuation and spelling at the same time.

In addition, some of the techniques that work well for spotting one kind of mistake won’t catch others.

EDITING AdviceRead slow, and read every word. Try

reading out loud, which forces you to say each word and also lets you hear how the words sound together. When you read silently or too quickly, you may skip over errors or make unconscious corrections.

Circle every punctuation mark. This forces you to look at each one. As you circle, ask yourself if the punctuation is correct.

EDITING Advice

Read the paper backwards. This technique is helpful for checking spelling. Start with the last word on the last page and work your way back to the beginning, reading each word separately.

You can also read backwards sentence by sentence to check grammar; this will help you avoid becoming distracted by content issues.

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Common mistakesComma splices, run-ons, and fragmentsSubject/Verb Agreement Pronoun AgreementApostrophesSemicolonsThat vs. Which (comma use)Punctuating Dependant ClausesVerb TenseActive/Passive VoiceSpellingCapitalization

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Common mistakes: Punctuating Dependant Clauses

Dependant Clauses: a clause that depends on another another independent clause to form a complete sentence.

Dependent clauses often start with one of the following subordinating words:Although, as, after, because, before, during, even though, if, since, when, while, When a sentence starts with one of these words, there will always be a comma in the middle of the sentence, separating the dependent clause from the independent clause:

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Common mistakes: Punctuating Dependent Clauses

When I get home tonight, I’m going to eat dinner. OR

I’m going to eat dinner when I get home tonight.

If a student wants to get good grades, they should go to the Writing Center.

ORA student should go to the Writing Center if they want to get good grades.

Because I’m a student, I have to spend time studying. OR

I have to spend time studying because I am a student.

Think you’ve got it?Then give it a try.

Decide whether each of these writing activities is either REVISING or EDITING.

1. Reorganizing sentences in your introduction.

2. Looking through my paper at all of my verbs to decide if I need stronger verbs.

3. Checking my paper for spelling mistakes.

4. Looking to see if I repeated myself in my paper so that I can take out sentences that are repetitive.

5. Rereading my paper to see if my ideas tie back to my thesis statement.

6. Rereading my paper to check for capitalization mistakes.

7. Check my paper for transitions between one idea to another idea.

8. Checking to see if my topic sentences in each paragraph introduce what the paragraph will be about.

9. Checking to make sure I stuck to the purpose of the paper.

10. Checking my paper for punctuation mistakes.

Decide whether each of these writing activities is either REVISING or EDITING.

1. Reorganizing sentences in your introduction. R2. Looking through my paper at all of my verbs to decide if I

need stronger verbs. R3. Checking my paper for spelling mistakes. E4. Looking to see if I repeated myself in my paper so that I can

take out sentences that are repetitive. R5. Rereading my paper to see if my ideas tie back to my thesis

statement. R6. Rereading my paper to check for capitalization mistakes. E7. Check my paper for transitions between one idea to another

idea. R8. Checking to see if my topic sentences in each paragraph

introduce what the paragraph will be about. R9. Checking to make sure I stuck to the purpose of the paper. R10. Checking my paper for punctuation mistakes. E