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The Confident WriterChapter 6:
Revising and Editing Your Essays
“Clutter” by William Zinsser
Every word in an essay should serve a purpose.
Avoid clutter in your essay:Delete extra prepositions
Free up > freeHead up > head
Avoid euphemisms“Put brackets around every component in a
piece of writing that [isn’t] doing useful work.”
How to Revise Your Essay
Think of your first draft as your discovery draft.
Every subsequent draft is a revision in which you are improving:ContentOrganizationStyle
How to Revise Your Essay
Improve the Content What is a generality? How do we improve
general statements?Add content
How do we revise for content?
Read for content. Underline general
words, phrases, statements, etc.
Make notes about where to add content.
Last weekend I had fun with my friends.
Traffic was terrible this weekend.
I saw the worst movie yesterday.
I have very definite opinions about big issues.
How to Revise Your Essay
Achieve Better Organization Have you followed
the direction of development?
Are all 3 parts fulfilling the needed functions?
Make an outline to determine what is there and what needs revising.
How to Revise Your Essay
Sharpen Your Style Style is how you express
yourself in writing. 3 components of style:
Diction Tone Sentence Variety
Determine if your tone is topic-appropriate.
Underline descriptive words—convey tone?!!
Consider list of tone words in Figure 6.2 on pp. 141.
Sentence Variety:
Change it up!
Tone:Sound of the Words
Diction:Word
Choice
Style
Eliminating Surface Errors
Definition Causes
Surface errors are mistakes in:◦ Grammar◦ Punctuation◦ Spelling
Surface errors result from:◦ Inconsistent application
of the rules of Standard English
◦ Careless mistakes that occur when you pay more attention to content than to mechanics
Eliminating Surface Errors
Edit for Grammar, Punctuation, & Spelling
Learn from Your Mistakes
Become aware of the kind of mistakes you make◦ Track your mistakes
Which ones are you making?
How do you fix them? Proofread
◦ Check for correctly punctuated sentences
◦ Check for spelling errors
Use your returned essays to compete the chart in Figure 6.4 on pp. 145.
What trends do you see?
Trim & Tighten Your Writing
Trimming & Tightening means editing to eliminate the following:◦ Wordiness
Why use 2 words when you can use 1?!!
◦ Passive Voice Change passive voice to active voice The subject of the sentence should
perform the action not receive it!◦ Tired Expressions
If you’ve heard it a million times before, it’s a cliché. Leave it out!
Look at Expression to Avoid (Figure 6.5 on pp. 149)
Use Proofreading Strategies
Follow these steps for your final round of editing:
1. Let your ideas incubate.
2. Pace yourself.3. Read backwards.4. Read aloud.5. Use a writer’s
tools.6. Proofread with a
purpose.