REVISING & EDITING
Revising and editing involve taking a "fresh look"
at your writing to see how it can be improved.
- REVISING
Revising involves looking at your writing as a whole and evaluating it for —
Clarity
Cohesion
Coherence
| Some specific QUESTIONS to ask yourself when revising your writing: |
If I am writing a letter, is the reason for writing clearly stated?
| Are my language, style, and tone appropriate for my purpose and audience? |
In
formal writing, it is important to use
formal language.
Casual language and "
slang" are
not appropriate.
It is usually inappropriate to directly address the reader by using the pronoun "you" in formal essays and reports.
| Are my ideas expressed clearly and strongly, with precise, vivid language? |
"a big box" → "an eight-foot-tall cardboard box with a smiley-face logo"
| Is my content logically organized, with transitions to connect the ideas? |
Does my introduction create interest,
and does my conclusion bring my ideas together in a satisfying way? |
I enjoyed my trip to the zoo.
vs.
My day at the zoo was an amazing, day-long safari around the world!
Overall, I had a great day at the zoo, but I was tired afterward.
vs.
I was exhausted at the end of my day at the zoo, but considering that I'd traveled by foot to every continent on Earth, it was definitely worth the effort!
Do I have enough details to support my ideas,
and did I use the best, most relevant supporting details? |
Are my details accurate and clearly explained?
Are details about the rules of checkers relevant, or not?
| Are my sentences varied in length and structure? |
Elijah traveled to the moon. He got out of his spaceship. He planted a flag. The flag said, "Elijah was here, but now he is gone." Elijah climbed back into his spaceship. He traveled back to Earth.
vs.
Elijah traveled to the moon. When he arrived, he got out of his spaceship and planted a flag that said, "Elijah was here, but now he is gone." Then, he climbed back into his spaceship and traveled back to Earth.
| When revising your writing, the answers to the above questions may cause you to remove excess words, add or change words for clarity or development, remove or rearrange sentences and paragraphs, rewrite an introduction or a conclusion, etc. |
- EDITING
Editing is fixing any mechanical or grammatical errors in writing.
| When editing your writing, ask yourself — |
1. Are my sentences complete and correctly formed?
2. Do my subjects agree with my predicates?
3. Have I followed all other grammar rules and conventions?
4. Is my writing correctly punctuated?
5. Are words and proper nouns correctly capitalized?
6. Are all my words spelled correctly?
| Go to the next page to see an example of revising and editing in progress! |
8th Grade Writing - Revising & Editing Lesson