1. As you enter class… Put your phone in the caddy. Take out your story.
Find a pen that is a different color than the one with which you wrote your story.

2. A Fancy-Named Technique for Revising
Ratiocination
A Fancy-Named Technique for Revising

3. Sentence Length Put a slash at the end of each sentence.
Do your sentence lengths vary or are they similar? Mark places to combine or break up sentences of similar length.
Recall the five-word sentence paragraph. We don’t want that!

4. Sentence Starters Circle the first two words of every sentence.
List those words in your margin.
See words that appear in sentences back to back? Combine those sentences.
Ex: I went to the store. I bought chips.
New: I went to the store and bought chips.

5. To Be Verbs Put a square around all these “to be” verbs:
Am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been
These verbs are static—they have no movement or action, but a stagnant state.
Change these boring verbs to active verbs.
Ex: He was happy.
New: He beamed a smile at her.

6. Imagery
Put a triangle on any adjective (describing words) in your story.
List an idea for an image that could replace the word.
Ex: The girl was beautiful.
New: The girl’s hair cascaded down her back, and her eyes sparkled in the sun.

7. Deadweight Adverbs Put an X on any of the following adverbs:
Really, very, a lot, so, kind of, sort of, et al.
These words have lost their meaning over time. Look at the sentences below. Which is more descriptive? Why?
Ex. 1: I love you very much.
Ex. 2: I love you unequivocally.