Revising & Editing
So you have a first draft! What now?
Revise content
Edit sentences
Proofread the submission draft
Revise your arguments, evidence, logical reasoning, paragraphing, organization, and structure.
Before you move on to editing, make sure you are satisfied with the content of your paper!
Don't invest energy in editing sentences that you'll end up deleting from the paper!
Edit sentences to ensure they are clear & readable with no distracting spelling or punctuation issues.
Proofread your submission draft to catch any typos or formatting errors
Writers deepen their understanding of a topic when they write and rewrite.
When revising, look to:
Anticipate your reader's response
Catch assumptions and generalizations
Cut extraneous material
Reconsider your claims
Clarify your points
Reorganize the threads of your discussion
Elaborate with additional information
> Activity: Critical distance
It's very difficult to pick up on errors and limitations of a draft when you're very close to it. For this reason it's important to gain "critical distance", so you can read your draft with a critical eye. It's best to leave a draft for a few days before revising it.
Discuss strategies for gaining critical distance in light of tight deadlines and the stress of your workload.
Remember that clarity of thought leads to clarity of expression!
If you're not sure what you're trying to say, then how are you supposed to say it clearly? If you're having trouble with crafting clear sentences, try to clarify what it is you're attempting to say.
Then, this video series on punctuation and sentence combining might be helpful.
A quick review of the simple sentence will enhance your ability to craft powerful complex sentences.
Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T...
Worksheet:
Do you want to make your writing flow? And emphasize the connections between ideas? This comma lesson will help! Learn how to combine two sentences using F.A.N.B.O.Y.S. (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).
Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u...
Do you want to make your writing more argumentative? Use subordination. A great sentence structure for thesis statements.
We use this strategy ALL THE TIME in our everyday conversation. Any time you start a sentence with even though, because, rather than, or despite, you're using coordination!
Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M...
In this video, we give you the lowdown on how to add extra information into a sentence using em dashes. The key here is that em dashes are used to add additional or extra information to a complete sentence.
Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o...
Did you know that you can replace a period with a semicolon? But should you? Let's discuss when and why!
Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W...