36 Strategy: Editing Up Close—Best Practices

You have gone through the earlier stages of the writing process (prewriting, writing, revising), so now it is time to edit. The list below includes an editing checklist. Ask yourself the following guided editing questions—and look through, fix, and tweak your paper accordingly—as you prepare your draft for submission.

• Are there any grammar errors? (have you been consistent in your use of tense, do your pronouns agree?)
• Have you accurately and effectively used punctuation?
• Do you rely on strong verbs and nouns and maintain a good balance with adjectives and adverbs, using them to enhance descriptions but ensuring clear sentences?
• Are your words as accurate as possible?
• Do you define any technical or unusual terms you use?
• Are there extra words or clichés in your sentences that you can delete?
• Do you vary your sentence structure?
• Have you accurately presented facts; have you copied quotations precisely?
• If you’re writing an academic essay, have you tried to be objective in your evidence and tone?
• If writing a personal essay, is the narrative voice lively and interesting?
• Have you spellchecked your paper?
• If you used sources, have you consistently documented all of the sources’ ideas and information using a standard documentation style?