The final stage of the writing process, rewriting, is crucial to the writing process, perhaps the most important stage. Rewriting consists of two phases: revising and proofreading.

Revising is adding, deleting, substituting, or rearranging material. It is making judgments about whether what we’ve written represents what we are actually trying to say. When we revise, we are reshaping our writing to the reader’s expectations.

Revising is different that composing. When composing, you want to focus on getting your ideas down on paper and think primarily about your audience and what to say.

Revising is also different than proofreading; we are still primarily dealing with shaping meaning. We are not concerned yet with grammar, punctuation, or mechanics. That’s the final phase. When revising, you do not want to block yourself by addressing things better addressed at a later phase.

Remember, though, that writing is not an entirely linear process. During revision you may realize you need to go back and compose or even brainstorm and reorganize.

Revising consists of several activities:

These activities can be approached systematically by asking the following questions.

Assessing Subject, Audience, and Purpose

	What exactly are you trying to communicate?
	How effective are you at achieving your goals?
	How should your writing be revised to meet your goals?

	Are your paragraphs in a logical order? Reorder so they make sense.
	Do all paragraphs support your purpose? Delete as necessary.
	Can your main points be easily identified and understood? Do your main points overlap or repeat? Are all of your points relevant? Did you leave any main points out? Add or delete information as necessary.
	How do you get from one paragraph to the next? Add transitions as necessary.

Reviewing Paragraphs

	Does each paragraph contain only one main idea? Delete or relocate extraneous information.
	Is each paragraph logically ordered? Reorder ideas within paragraphs as necessary.
	Is the topic of each paragraph easily recognizable?
	Does each paragraph include signals for the reader to show relationships among ideas? Repeat key words or add pronoun references and transitions as necessary.
	Does each paragraph include enough supporting material—facts, examples—to support your purpose? Add as necessary.
	Does your introductory paragraph arouse reader interest and explain the purpose?
	Does your concluding paragraph sum up main points and call for action?

Revising Sentences and Word Choice

	Do any sentences seem too long? Break in two or eliminate extraneous words or phrases.
	Can any sentences be combined?
	Are all words specific, concrete, and unambiguous? Replace any words that are not precise.

Reviewing Tone and Style

	Is the tone appropriate? Is it conversational and friendly?
	Is the writing in plain style?

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In case of emergency: break glass

Editing challenging sentences:

	Use active, verb-dominated language
	Eliminate useless opener, for example, "What I would like to say is that..."
	Cut down prepositions
	Circle any "is" verbs and rewrite as using active verb

Example:

The fact of the matter is that up until this point in time, the trend in the direction of high turnover of employees in Marketing is the result of restructuring. (31 words.)

Restructuring has caused high turnover in Marketing. (7 words)

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Proofreading: What to check

Sentence fragments

Sentences need subject and verb.

	Not: "Forgot to thank you."
	But: "I forgot to thank you."

Dang(ling) modifiers

Put modifier close as possible to what it is modifying.

	Not: "Joe was arrested for illegal consumption of alcohol by the police department."
	But: "Joe was arrested by the police department for illegal consumption of alcohol."

Run-on sentences

	Not: "The stock market hit bottom our stock value plummeted."
	But: "The stock market hit bottom. Our stock value plummeted."

Unclear pronoun reference

	Not: "When Al met Joe, he felt nervous."
	But: "When Al met Joe, Al felt nervous."

Faulty shift in pronoun reference

	Not: "No one should be forced to do something they do not want to do."
	But: : "No one should be forced to do something he or she does not want to do."

Incorrect pronoun case forms

	Not: "They are giving the bonus to him and I."
	But: "They are giving the bonus to him and me." Try reading the sentence with just the one pronoun: "They are giving the bonus to me."

Faulty agreement of subject and verb

	Not: "Any manager with employees who have children need to report to Human Resources."
	Isolate the subject and verb: "Any manager with employees who have children needs to report to Human Resources."

Faulty tense shifts

	Not: "As soon as I saw the budget, I gasp."
	Keep consistent: "As soon as I saw the budget, I gasped."

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Common punctuation errors

Comma splice

Commas cannot separate two independent clauses (complete sentences).

	Not: "The board met this weekend, it decided to reduce our projected expenses in the budget."
	But: "The board met this weekend. It decided to reduce our projected expenses in the budget."

Misusing commas with restrictive elements

Elements that are essential to meaning of sentence should not be set off by commas.

	Not: "Products, that have reduced prices, are selling well."
	But: "Products that have reduced prices are selling well (and only those products)." Compare: "All products, which have the lowest prices in years, are selling well." Commas okay because "which have the lowest prices in years" not essential to meaning of sentence.

Separating series of two items

Not: "The manager checked references, and hired the applicant." Comma unnecessary.

Separating subject and verb with comma

	Not: "Bonuses distributed at the end of the year, were higher than last year."
	Edited: "Bonuses distributed at the end of the year were higher than last year."

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Other important stuff about punctuation

	To form possessive of word not ending in s, use ’s: Bill’s
	If word ends in s, add apostrophe: senators’
	For joint ownership, add ’s to second noun: Bill and Hillary’s great adventure
	For joint ownership of more than one thing, add ’s to both nouns: Bill’s and Hillary’s cars
	Use an apostrophe with time and measurement: a day’s work; a dollar’s worth
	Do not use apostrophe with the possessive forms of personal pronouns: This is our money, not theirs.
	Do not confuse possessive pronoun its with contraction it’s (it is).
	Semicolons separate independent clauses: The managers are meeting behind closed doors; we’re in trouble.
	Dashes show an interruption within a sentence: This idea—a great one by the way—will surely be accepted.
	Hyphens divide words at end of line or compound words: thirty-five.
	Hyphens links two or more words to form compound adjectives: well-respected employee
	Colons introduce a list. Use only after independent clause: Our department needs the following items: paper, pens, and rubber cement. Compare: Our department needs paper, pens, and rubber cement.

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Capitalization

Capitalize

	the first word of a sentence.
	the first word in a quotation.
	the word "I."
	names of persons, places, organizations, languages, important historical events, and documents: river, Mississippi River; west (direction), the West (region).
	a personal title only before the name: the president, President Lincoln.
	days of the week, months, and holidays.

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Copyright 2003 Kevin Orfield