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Revising Like an Expert

Inventing Drafting Revising

Inexperienced Writer 50% 45% 05%

Experienced Writer 25% 35% 40%

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Specific Revising Strategies

Leave sufficient time for revising Take time out Read the document critically Revise on all levels

Content quality Persuasive emphasis Format conventions Paragraph organization Sentence structure Word choice

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More Revising Strategies

Revise in several sweeps Make a paper copy Read your document aloud

“The engineer prepared the specifications,

purchased the materials, supervised the

construction and reviewing the completed job.”

“The engineer preparing the budget.” Read the document backward Check the outline of the document

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More Revising Strategies

Make a list of recurring problems

Things to Edit for: 1) Comma Splices2) Unnecessary Passives3) Empty Openers4) Vague “This” Subjects5) General Words6) Talkie Verbs7) Too many qualifiers8) “Indeed” & “Really”

Things to Edit for: 1) Comma Splices2) Unnecessary Passives3) Empty Openers4) Vague “This” Subjects5) General Words6) Talkie Verbs7) Too many qualifiers8) “Indeed” & “Really”

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More Revising Strategies

Find a reader Use the buddy system Rewrite the introduction Carefully review edited sentences

“Abracadabra Incorporated now has ownership of

60% of the stock.”

“Abracadabra Incorporated now owns of 60% of

the stock.” Break the so-called “rules” when appropriate

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Perfectionism and Revising

Set clear limits on the amount of time and energy you will invest in editing.

Focus more attention on the high-level task of revising rather than on the low-level task of editing.

Ask readers to clarify their reactions to documents that you have written, noting the differences between your assumptions and their actual responses.

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Boredom and Revising

Increase the challenge of the task by focusing on more complex elements of the task (i.e., revising to address readers’ expectations rather than editing for correct word choice).

Increase motivation by considering the task as a small part of something with a more important purpose.

Do the least interesting tasks first and save the more interesting tasks for later.

Ask whether the boredom is actually masking a difficulty with the tasks.

Accept that not everything is interesting and set up a system to help return your attention to the task when it wanders (e.g., use a checklist).

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The Problem with English Spelling

ghoti

where gh as in rough o as in women ti as in nation

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Spelling Checkers

How did the following errors get into documents that were spell checked?

gurantee guarantee effiecient efficient inexspensive inexpensive farady Faraday indepenent independent accross across

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Grammar Checkers