Writing Center: Editing and Revising

So you've written an entire paper, but does it answer the prompt? Does it fulfill the assignment requirements? Does it even make sense?

These are all good questions to ask yourself once you have written a paper. Here are a few strategies for checking organization, clarity, flow, and argument within your paper. 

Read your paper out loud to yourself.

• You will notice sentences that do not make sense, words that do not belong, gaps in your argument, and much more when you hear your own writing spoken aloud.

Read your paper to a friend.

• Do they understand your arguments and evidence?
• What questions do they have after hearing your paper?
• Did they get stuck at any point?

Make an appointment at the Writing Center!

• We will read your paper out loud together so that you can employ both of the strategies mentioned above. And because tutors at the Writing Center are experienced writers, we can also give you constructive feedback on your paper. 
• Schedule a Writing Center appointment today!

Revising and Editing Sentences 

Revising focuses on clarity and effectiveness.

Editing focuses on correctness.

• Avoid sentences that are wordy, vague, or rambling.
• Look for awkwardness, lengthy sentences, or a jarring repetition. 
• See an example of an edited passage in A Writer's Reference (pg. 39, 41).

Partially Adapted from A Writer's Reference (pg. 39)

See the resources below for common mistakes to avoid in your writing on the word and sentence level. 

Avoid "be" verbs as much as possible as they tend to make your sentences dull and wordy.

Avoid passive voice as it tends to cause lengthy, confusing, or ambiguous sentences. 

Avoid nominalizations, or Zombie Nouns, because they suck the life out of your sentences!

           Ted-Ed Nominalizations Video

Check for Concision:

• Are you staying on topic?
• Are all of your main ideas necessary for supporting your claim?
• Is your thesis statement specific?

See the resource below for information on writing concisely. 

Reverse Outline:

After writing a draft of your paper, pull out the thesis statement and topic sentences of each paragraph to create an outline of your already existing paper. This allows you to look at the “bones” of your paper to assess its clarity, flow, organization, and argument.

Use the worksheet below to create and assess your reverse outline. 

Proofreading is "a slow and methodical search for misspellings, typos, and omitted words or word endings."

1. Remove distractions! Close out other tabs and browsers, silence your phone, find a quiet space, do whatever you need to give yourself ten to fifteen minutes of pure concentration. 
2. Read your sentences out loud, articulating each word as it is actually written.
3. Don't rely heavily on grammar and spell checkers. Consider suggestions for accuracy before accepting changes!
4. Find a second proof-reader. Ask a friend, roommate, coworker, etc. to read over your paper. Another set of eyes is always helpful!

Adapted from A Writer's Reference (pg. 41)

See these sections in A Writer's Reference for help with some common grammatical errors:

• Subject-verb Agreement (pg. 361-68)
• Irregular Verbs (pg. 369-72)
• Subjunctive Mood (pg. 378-80)
• Pronouns (pg. 380-88)
• Who vs. Whom (pg. 388-89)
• Sentence Fragments (pg. 395-400)
• Run-on Sentences (pg. 400-6)