Revising and Proofreading Your Writing
Read your paper aloud:
Listen for places in your writing where the meaning is not clear. It is better if you can get another person to read it aloud to you. The places that this person has difficulty with or has questions about may be where you need to make changes.
Details:
Add more details or examples so that other people will understand what you want to communicate. Be certain that you add only the details that have to do with each point you want to make.
Organization:
Make sure your ideas are in the order that you want them. Use transition words ( first, next, before, during ) that will help organize and connect your ideas. This will help people follow the direction of what you are writing.
Make corrections in:
- grammar or that words and phrases that don't sound right to you
- punctuation such as capital letters and periods
- words that you are not sure of. Check spelling by using a dictionary or your word processor's spell checker. Be careful to look at words that need to end in S and regular verbs in the past end in ED.
Adapted from Basic English Brush Up by Smith, Langan and Mohr, Townsend Press, 1995
