1. Revise Five Times (then proofread) Article By: Janis Ramey PowerPoint Slide By: James Stoner

2. Scenario: Three writing assignments: One due tomorrow A second due next week A third already overdue What to do? Prioritize the assignments: Rank them by importance Compromise if necessary

3. R e v i s e F i v e T i m e s Read through the paper five separate times, each time searching for different items: 1. Content and Emphasis 2. Clarity 3. Correctness 4. Brevity 5. Style

4. Content and Emphasis Is any required information missing? Is there any detail or repetitiveness that can be omitted? Have the most important ideas been emphasized and not the less important ones? If there is only one time for a revision, content and emphasis should be checked for first.

5. Clarity Search for logical organization to best help the reader understand the content. Are transitions effective from one topic to the next? Are sentences straightforward and intelligible? If there is time for a second read through check for clarity.

6. Correctness On the third pass check for proper: Grammar Word Choice Spelling Punctuation Sentence Structure

7. Brevity On the fourth read-through try to: Shorten lengthy or wordy phrases Remove unnecessary sentences Join or remove unimportant ideas Focus the writing to the topic at hand

8. S t y l e The last important item to think about is stlye. There may be a prescribed style, such as that of technical writing, in which case one follows instructions and there is not much to worry about The writer’s voice: If able to write in one’s own voice be aware of your own style, make sure it is consistent, and make sure it fits the piece being written.

9. Then Proofread… Defn: Checking, and rechecking the work, every time it moves from one phase of production to the next. Ex: Even if a perfect manuscript is created on word processor A, importing it to word processor B, or a desktop publishing or layout program, conversion and text flow problems may occur due to unrecognized fonts, differences in automatic functions, or other general software differences.

10. While proofreading look for: Missing last paragraphs, lines, or words at page ends Extra hy-phens and oddly inserted s p a c e s Improperly converted symb®ls or c h aracters Incorrect automatic functions, such as figure or page numbering, running headers, or cross referencing Font substitutions Spelling errors missed by a spell checker (ex. Correctly spelled words, but incorrect usage) Faulty alignment in text associated with tables or graphics Missing graphics, such as missing lines on a graph

11. Final Step The steps of proofreading apply to the original author and to editors trying to improve some else’s work. Finally have a colleague read it to get an outside opinion and to perhaps find anything that was missed