Revising And Editing Answer Key

What this handout is about

This handout provides some tips and strategies for revising your writing. To give you a chance to practice proofreading, nosotros have left seven errors (three spelling errors, 2 punctuation errors, and ii grammatical errors) in the text of this handout. Come across if yous can spot them!

Is editing the same thing every bit proofreading?

Not exactly. Although many people use the terms interchangeably, editing and proofreading are two dissimilar stages of the revision process. Both demand shut and careful reading, but they focus on different aspects of the writing and employ dissimilar techniques.

Some tips that apply to both editing and proofreading

Go some distance from the text! Information technology'southward hard to edit or proofread a paper that you've just finished writing—it'southward still to familiar, and you lot tend to skip over a lot of errors. Put the newspaper aside for a few hours, days, or weeks. Go for a run. Take a trip to the beach. Clear your head of what you lot've written then you can have a fresh look at the newspaper and see what is really on the page. Ameliorate yet, give the paper to a friend—you can't get much more distance than that. Someone who is reading the paper for the first time, comes to it with completely fresh optics.
Decide which medium lets yous proofread most carefully. Some people like to piece of work right at the reckoner, while others similar to sit down back with a printed copy that they can mark upwards as they read.
Effort changing the look of your document. Altering the size, spacing, color, or style of the text may trick your encephalon into thinking it'due south seeing an unfamiliar document, and that tin can help you go a dissimilar perspective on what y'all've written.
Find a repose place to work. Don't endeavor to do your proofreading in front end of the Tv set or while y'all're chugging away on the treadmill. Detect a place where y'all can concentrate and avoid distractions.
If possible, do your editing and proofreading in several short blocks of time. Your concentration may outset to wane if you endeavor to proofread the entire text at one fourth dimension.
If you're short on time, you may wish to prioritize. Brand sure that you lot complete the most important editing and proofreading tasks.

Editing

Editing is what you begin doing as soon as yous end your first draft. You reread your draft to encounter, for example, whether the newspaper is well-organized, the transitions between paragraphs are smoothen, and your testify really backs up your argument. You lot tin can edit on several levels:

Content

Have you lot done everything the consignment requires? Are the claims you brand authentic? If it is required to practise so, does your paper brand an statement? Is the argument complete? Are all of your claims consequent? Take you supported each signal with adequate evidence? Is all of the information in your newspaper relevant to the consignment and/or your overall writing goal? (For additional tips, see our handouts on agreement assignments and developing an statement.)

Overall structure

Does your newspaper have an appropriate introduction and conclusion? Is your thesis clearly stated in your introduction? Is information technology articulate how each paragraph in the body of your paper is related to your thesis? Are the paragraphs bundled in a logical sequence? Have you made articulate transitions between paragraphs? One way to cheque the construction of your paper is to brand a contrary outline of the paper after you have written the get-go draft. (Encounter our handouts on introductions, conclusions, thesis statements, and transitions.)

Structure within paragraphs

Does each paragraph take a clear topic sentence? Does each paragraph stick to one main idea? Are in that location any extraneous or missing sentences in any of your paragraphs? (Come across our handout on paragraph development.)

Clarity

Have you lot defined whatever important terms that might be unclear to your reader? Is the significant of each judgement clear? (One way to answer this question is to read your paper one sentence at a fourth dimension, starting at the end and working backwards so that you will non unconsciously fill up in content from previous sentences.) Is it articulate what each pronoun (he, she, it, they, which, who, this, etc.) refers to? Have you chosen the proper words to express your ideas? Avert using words you detect in the thesaurus that aren't part of your normal vocabulary; you may misuse them.

Fashion

Have yous used an appropriate tone (formal, breezy, persuasive, etc.)? Is your use of gendered language (masculine and feminine pronouns like "he" or "she," words like "fireman" that contain "man," and words that some people incorrectly presume apply to just one gender—for example, some people presume "nurse" must refer to a woman) appropriate? Have you varied the length and structure of your sentences? Practise you lot tends to use the passive vox too oftentimes? Does your writing incorporate a lot of unnecessary phrases like "there is," "in that location are," "due to the fact that," etc.? Do you repeat a strong give-and-take (for instance, a vivid principal verb) unnecessarily? (For tips, see our handouts on style and gender-inclusive language.)

Citations

Have you accordingly cited quotes, paraphrases, and ideas y'all got from sources? Are your citations in the correct format? (See the UNC Libraries citation tutorial for more information.)

As you edit at all of these levels, you will usually make pregnant revisions to the content and wording of your newspaper. Go along an eye out for patterns of error; knowing what kinds of issues you tend to have will be helpful, especially if you are editing a big document like a thesis or dissertation. In one case you take identified a pattern, yous tin can develop techniques for spotting and correcting future instances of that pattern. For example, if yous notice that you ofttimes hash out several distinct topics in each paragraph, you can go through your paper and underline the fundamental words in each paragraph, and then interruption the paragraphs up and then that each i focuses on just one primary thought.

Proofreading

Proofreading is the final stage of the editing process, focusing on surface errors such as misspellings and mistakes in grammar and punctuation. You should proofread simply after you have finished all of your other editing revisions.

Why proofread? It's the content that actually matters, right?

Content is important. But like it or non, the way a paper looks affects the mode others judge it. When you've worked hard to develop and present your ideas, yous don't want careless errors distracting your reader from what you accept to say. It's worth paying attending to the details that help yous to make a adept impression.

Most people devote only a few minutes to proofreading, hoping to catch any glaring errors that jump out from the page. But a quick and cursory reading, specially after you lot've been working long and hard on a newspaper, usually misses a lot. It's better to work with a definite program that helps you to search systematically for specific kinds of errors.

Sure, this takes a little extra time, just it pays off in the end. If you know that you have an effective way to catch errors when the paper is almost finished, yous can worry less about editing while you are writing your first drafts. This makes the entire writing proccess more efficient.

Try to keep the editing and proofreading processes separate. When you are editing an early draft, you lot don't want to be bothered with thinking near punctuation, grammar, and spelling. If your worrying about the spelling of a discussion or the placement of a comma, you're not focusing on the more important job of developing and connecting ideas.

The proofreading process

You probably already apply some of the strategies discussed below. Experiment with different tactics until you find a system that works well for you. The important affair is to make the process systematic and focused and then that you lot catch as many errors as possible in the least amount of time.

Don't rely entirely on spelling checkers. These can be useful tools but they are far from foolproof. Spell checkers have a limited dictionary, and then some words that show up as misspelled may actually but non be in their memory. In addition, spell checkers will not grab misspellings that form some other valid word. For example, if you type "your" instead of "you lot're," "to" instead of "besides," or "at that place" instead of "their," the spell checker won't catch the fault.

Grammer checkers can be even more problematic. These programs piece of work with a express number of rules, then they can't place every error and often make mistakes. They likewise fail to requite thorough explanations to help y'all sympathise why a sentence should be revised. You may want to use a grammer checker to aid you place potential run-on sentences or too-frequent use of the passive vocalization, just y'all demand to be able to evaluate the feedback it provides.

Proofread for merely 1 kind of error at a time. If you try to identify and revise also many things at once, yous take chances losing focus, and your proofreading will be less effective. It's easier to catch grammar errors if you aren't checking punctuation and spelling at the same time. In add-on, some of the techniques that work well for spotting ane kind of mistake won't take hold of others.

Read slow, and read every give-and-take. Try reading out loud, which forces you to say each discussion and besides lets yous hear how the words sound together. When you read silently or too quickly, you may skip over errors or make unconscious corrections.

Dissever the text into individual sentences. This is another technique to help you to read every sentence carefully. Simply printing the return key after every menstruation so that every line begins a new sentence. So read each judgement separately, looking for grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors. If you're working with a printed re-create, try using an opaque object like a ruler or a piece of newspaper to isolate the line you're working on.

Circle every punctuation marker. This forces you to look at each ane. As you circumvolve, enquire yourself if the punctuation is right.

Read the paper backwards. This technique is helpful for checking spelling. Kickoff with the last give-and-take on the last page and piece of work your mode back to the first, reading each word separately. Considering content, punctuation, and grammar won't make any sense, your focus will be entirely on the spelling of each word. You tin also read backwards sentence by sentence to bank check grammar; this volition assistance you avert becoming distracted by content issues.

Proofreading is a learning process. You're not just looking for errors that y'all recognize; you're also learning to recognize and correct new errors. This is where handbooks and dictionaries come in. Keep the ones you find helpful shut at hand as yous proofread.

Ignorance may be elation, just it won't make you a better proofreader. You'll often find things that don't seem quite right to you, but you may not be quite certain what'southward wrong either. A word looks similar it might be misspelled, merely the spell checker didn't take hold of it. You think you need a comma between 2 words, just yous're not sure why. Should you use "that" instead of "which"? If you're not certain most something, expect it up.

The proofreading process becomes more efficient as you develop and practice a systematic strategy. You'll learn to identify the specific areas of your ain writing that need careful attending, and knowing that you have a sound method for finding errors will assist you to focus more on developing your ideas while you are drafting the paper.

Think you lot've got it?

Then give it a endeavor, if you oasis't already! This handout contains seven errors our proofreader should have caught: three spelling errors, two punctuation errors, and two grammatical errors. Effort to find them, and then cheque a version of this page with the errors marked in ruddy to come across if you're a proofreading star.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive listing of resources on the handout's topic, and we encourage yous to do your own research to notice boosted publications. Delight do non use this list as a model for the format of your own reference listing, every bit it may not friction match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please run across the UNC Libraries citation tutorial. We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Especially for not-native speakers of English:

Ascher, Allen. 2006. Retrieve About Editing: An ESL Guide for the Harbrace Handbooks. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Lane, Janet, and Ellen Lange. 2012. Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, 3rd ed. Boston: Heinle.

For everyone:

Einsohn, Amy. 2011. The Copyeditor'south Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications, 3rd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Lanham, Richard A. 2006. Revising Prose, 5th ed. New York: Pearson Longman.

Tarshis, Barry. 1998. How to Be Your Own All-time Editor: The Toolkit for Everyone Who Writes. New York: Iii Rivers Printing.

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Artistic Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License.
You may reproduce information technology for non-commercial apply if you use the entire handout and aspect the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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