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Self-Directed Editing and Proofreading Workshop
When you feel that you have as close to a final draft as possible, go through your essay carefully and look for each of the following, checking off categories as you go:
- Find and replace weak verbs (e.g. any form of “to be”) with more descriptive ones (Hint: this may require revising the sentence).
- Example of weak verb: “My solution is unique because…”
- Revised Example: “My solution forges a new approach to solving this problem”
- Revise sentences in passive voice to make them active.
- Example of passive voice: “This problem has been addressed in several ways.”
- Revised Example: “Organizations address this problem by…”
- Find one example of a sentence that begins with a dummy subject and revise it to use a concrete one.
- Example of a dummy subject: “There are many reasons why it is important to solve this problem.”
- Revised Example: “We must solve this problem for several reasons.”
- Look through your essay and find something that you think might be an example of a cliché. Revise it to something fresh and original. Remember that clichés can take many forms. They can be…
- …phrases (such as “for all intents and purposes…” or “it is a well-known fact that…” or “In today’s society…”)
- …sayings (for example: “Beyond the shadow of a ____________.”“Easier said than_____________.”)
- …rhetorical moves (beginning your letter with “Have you ever…?” or “Everyone knows that…” or making broad statements like “People everywhere…”)
- Look through your essay for wordy phrases or sentences. Ask yourself, “Do any of these sentences contain words that don’t affect meaning? Should any of these words be removed?”
- Do any of the following common errors need attention?
- Spelling/wrong word
- Subject/verb agreement
- Sentence fragments, run-on sentences, or comma splices
- Verb tense consistency
- Parallelism
- Vague pronoun references
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