Revision and proofreading
HOW CAN YOU IMPROVE
THE QUALITY OF YOUR
WRITING ?
Proofreading…
After you finish revising so that your ideas are
clear and well-organized, it’s time to
proofread..
 Go over your paper carefully with a pen in your hand
 Touch each word w/ the pen, and read it aloud, or in
your head: this will help you to slow down and find
errors and parts that don’t sound right
 You should discover words that are missing, or that
the endings on words are not correct
 If you think a word may not be correctly spelled, top
and check its spelling
DRAFTING
A first draft …
 should never be the final draft !
 Is a chance to get your thoughts and impressions on
paper
 May be disorganised and incomplete
When you have a first draft, think about
the changes you need to make.
You may need to develop your ideas more, add
details, or clarify confusing points.
Preparatory reading…
 SKIMMING is often helpful to get a general idea of
a piece of writing before you actually start reading it.
 Read the title and subtitles, if any
 Read the first sentence of all paragraphs
 Read the entire first and last paragraphs
This will help you
-to get the main idea and
-to familiarize w/ the overall organization of the
reading
ANNOTATING
is a way of reading with a pencil in hand. As you
read, you mark up the text in any way that makes
sense to you.
Underline,
circle
highlight
or (bracket)
important or interesting words, phrases or sentences
Draw ARROWS
to connect related ideas
Write comments and questions in the margins Not realistic !
Number points (1,2,3,4)
Great idea !
Make any other markings that are meaningful to you
? !!! % @ £ =) =( ;-)
Double entry response
allows you to take notes on aspects of a reading
that interest you, and your reaction to them
 Draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper. On
the left-hand side, jot down interesting or important
words, phrases, sentences, ideas, points, details and
anything that ever catches your attention as you
read the passage.
 You can write down the exact words (quote) or say
some of the ideas in your own words (paraphrase)
or re-tell some of the most important ideas or main
events from the passage (summarize).
Double-entry response…
Then add your own comments on the
right-hand side. You can:
 question the reading
 react to it
 relate it to other readings or your own
experience, or
 express your thoughts and feelings about it
Example of double-entry response:
 P. 27 “Inspired to Write”
Writer’s tip:
 Be specific:
it is much better to say “the geranium in the window”
than “the flower in the window”. “Geranium” – that
one word gives us a much more specific picture. It
penetrates more deeply into the beingness of the
flower. It immediately gives us the scene by the
window – red petals, green circular leaves, all
straining towards the sunlight”
- Natalie Goldberg
‘No comprendo’
 Finding the main idea in a reading is important… just as
important as it is for the writer to have a main idea and
to support it.
The main idea is:
 The central idea or focus
 The main idea the writer wants to make
 The reader can usually find a sentence or two that best
expresses it
 Sometimes it’s implied… you have to ‘read between the
lines’ to find it
Read the example from Inspired to Write, p. 34.
No
comprendo
Can you
find
the main
idea(s) ?
The main idea
 Writers may start a piece of writing not knowing what the
main idea is going to be… they may discover it only in the
process of writing
 Once they do establish the main idea, the rest of the text will
develop the idea by
--giving examples and reasons
--making comparisons and contrasts
--providing information or data
--referring to other texts or other support
In the final piece of writing it should be easy to find
the writer’s main idea and see that everyting in the
text – the examples and the reasons– all relate to
and support it.
A descriptive outline
can help you to see
a piece of writing clearly.
You can use it to help you understand something you
read… or as a tool for revising your own writing.
Include:
The main idea in your own words
In columns, one sentence summaries of what each
paragraph “says” and “does” … the purpose or function of
each paragraph (for ex., to introduce an idea, develop a
reason, give examples, tell a story, describe something
or someone, explain something, analyze a problem,
summarize ideas, argue a point, provide a conclusion)
example of descriptive outlining:
After numbering the paragraphs… can you make a
descriptive outline of ‘No comprendo’ ?
Choosing examples…. S.T.A.R.
Here are some criteria to help you choose and check
your examples:
 SUFFICIENT: Do you have enough examples – or details or
facts or evidence – to make your point strongly ? Is your
support sufficient ?
Of course, sometimes one strong detailed example is enough:
“ People who get exercise tend to live longer than
those who don’t. For example, my father walks 5
miles every day, and he is 90 years old.”
S.T.A.R.
 TYPICAL:
Is the example typical ? Does it represent the type of
situation you want to make a point about ? Choose
examples that are believable, that people would expect
to see. Be careful though: if you choose an example
that’s too common, it may seem stereotypical:
“ Single parents can raise children just as well as
two parents. A good example is a 7-year-old boy
named Jimmy, whose parents both died, leaving
him an orphan. His 20 year-old unmarried
brother then raised him successfully. “
S.T.A.R.
 AUTHENTIC:
Is the example true ? All your examples should sound true
to the reader….
“ Television can influence children to do harmful
or dangerous things. I once read about a
young boy who watched a superhero show, then,
with a cape tied around his neck, jumped off a
roof in imitation.”
S.T.A.R.
 RELEVANT:
Is the example relevant to your point ? Will the reader
see a logical connection ?
“ One way to reduce the number of cars in
cities might be to outlaw single passenger
cars in the city center during peak hours.
For example, some people in New York City
propose that cars entering the center of the
city in the morning hours be required to
carry two or more passengers.”
Writer’s tip:
 In the first draft you get your ideas and your
theme clear…. But the next time through, when you
revise your writing, it’s like cleaning house, getting
rid of the junk, getting things in order, tightening
things up.
 Revision is the process of making writing neat and
orderly… like tidying up a room of your house.
In an interview, Ernest Hemingway said:
 Hemingway: “I wrote the ending to A Farewll to
Arms, the last page of it, 39 times before I was
satisfied.
 Interviewer: “Was there some technical problem ?
What was it that had you stumped ?”
 Hemingway: “ Getting the words right.”
Getting the words right…
 Imagine you are the boss of a factory and the words
you have written are your employees. If the workers
are productive, they stay. If they are not doing there
job well, or are not needed, they are fired or are let
go. The ‘word boss’ must also recognize when to
hire new workers, for ex. When there is a new job to
be done and no one is doing it.
Be a ‘word boss’ !
 Go through your writing as a ‘word boss’. Look at
each sentence carefully and ask yourself these
questions:
 Is this word doing its job well ?
Are there
stronger, more specific, more explicit or more
concrete words that could do the job better ?
 Do I need to hire any ‘new workers’ ? Could I add
any words to make the meaning clearer ?
 Are there any unnecessary words in this sentence
that need to be ‘fired’ ?
Logical development
To keep your reader engaged and enable him to
follow your thinking, ask yourself the following
questions to help ensure your writing flows from one
idea to the next in a logical or coherent way:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Does your essay fulfill the promise made in the first
sentence / paragraph ? If not, what changes can you make,
either in the beginning or in the rest of the essay ?
Do the ideas in each sentence lead logically to the ideas in
the next ? If not, what changes can you make to show a
logical development ?
Does one paragraph lead logically to the next ? If not, what
changes can you make to show logical movement ?
Does the entire piece hold the reader’s interest ? If not, what
changes can you make to keep readers’ interest from section
to section ?
YOUR MISTAKES
 Remember to make a list of the most common
mistakes YOU make…. And be ready to check your
work for them….