Revising Your Paper

Revising your paper is the last step in the composing process, although you have probably been revising on an informal basis as you planned, drafted, and revised. Revising includes scouring your paper for errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. In this step of the writing process, you should read your paper closely several times. You probably aren't going to catch all of your errors in a single reading. It is best if you can let the paper sit for awhile between drafting, revising, and revising stages--the longer the better. You will be more likely to see your writing with fresh eyes and catch mistakes.

How do you know when you are finished with your paper? For information on determining when your paper is ready to turn in, see "When Is Your Paper Ready to Turn In?", in Featured Essays.

Quick Tips for Revising

• Work with a hard copy and THEN correct on the screen. It is easier to find your mistakes on paper.
• Use a coloured marker or pen to mark your errors as you go through the paper, and then go back to correct the errors that you find.
• Read your paper backward to catch spelling errors and other careless errors.
• Read your paper aloud, slowly, exactly as the paper is written, listening for errors in usage and punctuation.
• Have someone else read your paper to help you find errors.
• Use the spell-check on your word processor to catch spelling errors, but realize that the computer is not reading your paper. If you have spelled form as from, the computer will not alert you to that error. Be wary of the grammar checks in word processing programs.
• Refer to the exercises on this Web site to help you correct your errors.

Revising Checklist

• Are there sentence fragments, comma splices, or fused sentences?
• Are there awkward shifts in person, number, or tense?
• Are there misplaced or dangling modifiers?
• Are verb forms correct? Do subjects and verbs agree?
• Do pronouns refer to clear antecedents? Do they agree with those antecedents?
• Are possessive forms correct?
• Are there spelling errors?
• Are there errors in mechanics?

  If you are using sources, ask yourself the following questions:

• Have you enclosed direct quotations in quotation marks?
• Have you attributed all of your source material in the text?
• Have you cited your sources correctly?