Archive for the ‘English Editing’ Category

Editing for content

Friday, March 23rd, 2012
  • Ask yourself who, what, when, where, why, and how when reading for content. Does the text answer all the questions you think it should?
  • Highlight the sentences that best answer these questions, just so you can see if the facts flow in logical order.
  • Do the math, do the math, and then do the math again. Somewhere between the screen and the printer 2+2 often becomes 3.
  • Make a list of “bugaboo” words and do a search for them before final proof. Include every swear word, words related to product terminology, and other words that pop up on occasion. Then do a “find” for all these words.
  • Actually do every step in procedures to make sure they are complete, accurate, and in correct order.
  • Count the number of steps a list promises to make sure they are all there.
  • Check that figure numbers match their references in the text and are sequential.

Check that illustrations, pictographs, and models are right-side up.

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Clear Sentences

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

For clarity, it is also important to keep a check on the sentence length. If sentences are too short, your writing will sound immature; if they are too long, the reader will lose track. Sentence length, should therefore, be not too long and not too short. A skilful writer can produce much longer sentences which remain clear and effective. Some topics and some tasks may tend to require longer sentences. What is important is not that you count up every sentence, but that you think about sentence length when writing, monitor your own writing to ensure that the meaning is always as clear as possible, and explore opportunities to vary sentence length when appropriate. Short sentences aid coherence, whilst longer sentences aid cohesion.

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Refining and proofreading your draft

Monday, March 19th, 2012

When you’re done with the rough draft, take a break so that you can come back to your writing with fresh eyes. When you pick up your draft again, ask yourself:

  • Is my writing clear?
  • Do my ideas make sense?
  • Are my points and conclusions supported by evidence?
  • Do I avoid repetition?
  • Do I use proper grammar and spelling?
  • How does it sound read out loud?

Make sure you have enough time before your deadline to show your draft to others. Another point of view can help you polish your paper and catch inconsistencies and mistakes.

After you make any necessary corrections and improvements, proofread your draft again. Continue refining until you’re happy with your work.

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THE QUESTION MARK

Saturday, March 10th, 2012

tag question is a device used to turn a statement into a question. It nearly always consists of a pronoun, a helping verb, and sometimes the word not. Although it begins as a statement, the tag question prevails when it comes to the end-mark: use a question mark. Notice that when the statement is positive, the tag question is expressed in the negative; when the statement is negative, the tag question is positive. (There are a few exceptions to this, frequently expressing an element of surprise or sarcasm: “So you’ve made your first million, have you?” “Oh, that’s your plan, is it?”) The following are more typical tag questions:

  • He should quit smoking, shouldn’t he?
  • He shouldn’t have quit his diet, should he?
  • They’re not doing very well, are they?
  • He finished on time, didn’t he?
  • She does a beautiful job, doesn’t she?
  • Harold may come along, mightn’t he?
  • There were too many people on the dock, weren’t there?

(Be careful of this last one; it’s not “weren’t they?”)

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Why Does Grammar Matter?

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012

One of the most lucid and sensible answers to this question appeared a few years ago in–of all places–a position statement on the teaching of grammar in American schools. Published by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the report is blessedly free of educational cant. Here’s how it begins:

Grammar is important because it is the language that makes it possible for us to talk about language. Grammar names the types of words and word groups that make up sentences not only in English but in any language. As human beings, we can put sentences together even as children–we can all do grammar. But to be able to talk about how sentences are built, about the types of words and word groups that make up sentences–that is knowing about grammar. And knowing about grammar offers a window into the human mind and into our amazingly complex mental capacity.

People associate grammar with errors and correctness. But knowing about grammar also helps us understand what makes sentences and paragraphs clear and interesting and precise. Grammar can be part of literature discussions, when we and our students closely read the sentences in poetry and stories. Knowing about grammar means finding out that all languages and all dialects follow grammatical patterns.

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