MECHANICAL CATEGORIES:
TOTAL: /20
1) Dialogue Issues: total:_____
points lost: _____
a. quotation marks:________________________________________
b. tag punctuation:_________________________________________
c. direct address:___________________________________________
d. paragraphing:____________________________________________
2) Tense Consistency: total:_____
switching:__________________________________________________
points lost:_____
3) Basic Sentence Issues: total:_____
a. run-ons:________________________________________________
b. fragments:______________________________________________
c. subject-verb agreement:___________________________________
d. pronoun agreement:______________________________________
e. dangling modifiers:_______________________________________
points lost:_____
4) Punctuation: total_____
a. misused semicolons:______________________________________
b. missing end punctuation:__________________________________
c. apostrophes with possessives:______________________________
d. apostrophes with contractions:_____________________________
e. random capitalization:____________________________________
f. missing capitalization:_____________________________________
points lost:_____
5) Editing Issues: total:_____
a. POV switch:_____________________________________________
b. spell check:_____________________________________________
c. proofreading:___________________________________________
d. paragraph indenting:_____________________________________
e. homonyms/homophones:_________________________________
points lost:_____
Each instance of confusion is noted with a tick; ticks within each overall category are totaled. One point
is lost for every two ticks, up to a maximum of 4 points lost per category.
MECHANICAL CONCERNS:
1) Dialogue Issues:
a. quotation marks: The words of a speaker should be contained within quotation marks that
indicate where the speaker’s words begin and where they end; the words of narration are
excluded from quotation marks: “I want,” he said, “to go to a movie.”
b. tag punctuation: The words attached to a line of dialogue to identify the speaker (he said,
she whispered) are called a tag.
 When a tag precedes its line of dialogue, it must be followed by a comma:
He cried, “No! Don’t go!”
 When a tag follows its line of dialogue and that line ends in a period, the period should
be changed to a comma: “Please don’t go,” he said.
(Stronger ending punctuation should not be changed: “May I go?” she asked.)
 When a tag interrupts its line of dialogue, it needs a comma before and after it:
“I do not,” he said, “want to go.”
c. direct address: Any name (John, Sally), title (Mom, Doctor), or other word (man, fool, pal)
used by a speaker to identify or refer directly to the person being spoken to is called direct
address. Words of direct address need to be separated from all other words in a sentence
by commas:
“Mom, I need help.”
“Hey, man, it’s okay.”
“Thank you, lady.”
d. paragraphing: a change of speaker requires a change of paragraph, even if the speaker says
only one word.
2) Tense Consistency: You, as the author, must choose what tense to narrate in (past or present)
and then be consistent. A change in verb tense should only be used to indicate a change in time
within the story (for example, from current story to back story).
3) Basic Sentence Issues:
a. fragments: Complete sentences need to be full ideas that can stand on their own,
having their own subjects and verbs:
no: Although he went home.
no: At his home.
yes: Although he went home, he did not rest.
b. run-ons: Run-ons are created by placing nothing or only a comma between two
complete sentences, each with its own subject and verb. They can be avoided by using:
i. a period to form separate sentences ;
ii. a semicolon to join them together; or
iii. a comma plus a conjunction (and, or, but, for, so, yet) to join them.
no: He was late he stopped for milk.
no: He was late, he stopped for milk.
yes: He was late, but he stopped for milk.
c. subject-verb agreement: Singular nouns need singular forms of verbs (“Joe walks,” not
“Joe walk”); plural nouns need plural forms of verbs (“Planes are fast,” not “Planes is
fast”); and compound subjects (more than one words doing the action) need plural
forms of verbs (“Red and green are colors,” not “Red and green is colors”).
d. pronoun agreement: Pronouns must agree in number, plural or singular, with the nouns
they stand for: “the girl had her books”; “the girls had their books.” (NOTE: Each, Every,
everyone, everybody are all singular.)
e. dangling modifiers: A modifying phrase that begins a sentence modifies the noun that
immediately follows it; when you intend to modify a different noun that is absent or
appears later in the sentence, the modifier is dangling:
no: Running to the store, the milk was bought. (This means the milk ran to the store!)
yes: Running to the store, he bought the milk. (This means he ran to the store).
4) Punctuation Issues:
a. semicolons: Semicolons are not interchangeable with commas. Semicolons can be used
to: a) join two separate sentences whose meanings are closely linked (he hated school;
it stifled him) or b) to join three or more items in a list, especially if at least one item
contains a comma.
b. end punctuation: Every sentence must have some punctuation at the end of it.
c. apostrophes with possessives: An “s” added to a word to show possession needs an
apostrophe before it (John’s book).
d. apostrophes with contractions: When you form a contraction—joining two separate
words into one shorter word and omitting one or more letters—you need an
apostrophe to show that letters are missing (were not= weren’t).
e. and f. capitalizations: A noun should not be capitalized unless it is the first word of a
sentence or it is the specific name of an individual: high school… Penncrest High School.
5) Editing Issues: Always spellcheck (to find combinations of letters that are not real words) and
proofread (to find missing or extra or obviously wrong words). Also, check for Point Of View
consistency, formatting consistency (especially with indenting the first line of paragraphs), and
use of correct sound-alike words (two/to/too, they’re/their/there, its’it’s).