A Simple Class: Basic Grammar

Lesson 3: Basic Editing

Before we get into more complex grammar topics I want to touch on the absolute basics of editing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Editing Technique #1
DIY

1. After you write a chapter, paragraph or whatever you're going to edit, stop and take a break. Go watch a tv show, read a book, anything that will get your mind off of what you just wrote.

- Why? You're brain is so smart that it knows what you meant to say so it'll just edit it for you mentally as you go. Unfortunately, you don't register it doing this.

2. After half an hour or so, however long it takes you to forget what you wrote, open up your work.

3. Read through it once and get rid of anything really obvious.

4. Read through it again and this time, carefully read each word. Catch any mistakes?

Pros
- You're more likely to notice repeated words or the wrong words instead of what you meant to write.

Cons
- Can be time consuming.
- You may not notice small mistakes such as incorrect sentence structure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Editing Technique #2
Spellcheck = BFF

1. Write your work in a program such as Word or anything that has a built in spellcheck. It should let you know when you spell a word wrong or have incorrect sentence structure.

Pros
- Easy peasy! All you have to do is click a few buttons!

Cons
- Sometimes if you spell a word correctly, it might not be the right word. Maybe you spelt defiantly instead of definitely. The program wouldn't pick that up as you did spell the word correctly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Editing Technique #3
Not my problem

1. After you finish writing, copy the text and head on over to the Wattpad forums.

2. Find an editor you like and follow their instructions.

Pros
- You'll get almost all of the mistakes out.

Cons
- You might have to wait awhile.
- You have to complete a payment. (Yes I know they're small but still)
- It defeats the purpose of this class.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What to look for:

- Punctuation. Periods? Commas? Quotation marks?
- Spelling. Doubled word? Typo?
- Capitalization. Is the first word of every sentence capitol? Names? Places? Did you capitalize your I's?
- Dialogue. Is there a new paragraph every time a new character speaks? Quotation marks?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week's practice:

Write a paragraph (DO NOT EDIT) describing a park. There may be some dialogue if you wish. (5 lines maximum) This park can look however you'd like. After writing it, copy and paste it (add a funky symbol to differentiate the two) and edit the new version.

Criteria:
- At least 4 sentences. (10 max)
- Must use editing technique 1.

Worth 5 marks.