Self-Editing Your Paper – Step Two

Tips to editing: Round #2

How to do dialogue will be in the second

PowerPoint next week: Round #2

Quick Review and Reference Slides to Help You

If you see these in your paper, you DO NOT have a complete sentence

and must fix it!

Fragments in your own writing can be easily spotted!

Look for a “sentence” which begins with one of these words:

1. Figure out what is missing. 2. Is the subject missing? Is the verb missing? Are both

missing?3. Rephrase/rewrite adding what is missing.

…and this is why being

able to write a COMPLETE

sentence with PUNCTUATION

matters, my young scholars!

Run-ons can get you hurt,

people!

Run-ons usually are just too many ideas strung together. They need some

PUNCTUATION!

COMPLETE SENTENCES: What every writer must have!

Edit Your Own Paper for Fragments and Run-ons

Think back to Monday’s writing review lesson in class, when we worked with fragments and run-ons.

Read every “sentence” you wrote. Is it REALLY a complete sentence/idea?

If it is not, fix the problem by adding missing punctuation, a subject, verb, or both.

Editing for Correct Capitalization

Are all key words in the title capitalized?

Are the first words in EVERY sentence capitalized?

Did you remember to capitalize ALL names, “I” – proper nouns, which may include place names like national parks, cities, states, specific rivers and lakes, or special monuments

Languages, like English, Spanish, and German should all be capitalized

REMOVE capital letters from general words

A Special Capitalization Rule* Use a capital letter when you replace a parent’s name in a sentence “Mom” or “Dad”

“Hey, Mom! Where’s the laundry basket?” I asked.

*Don’t capitalize it if it’s just a reference: My mom likes spaghetti. How to know the difference tip: If it’s used as a NAME, you should be able to substitute the word mom/dad with their actual name.

Dialogue

Editing Dialogue• Apply our writing review lesson on dialogue from

Tuesday to your own paper by editing for dialogue errors.

• Are quotes around what was said out loud?• Are your commas INSIDE the quotes?• Do you start new paragraphs for each speaker

when an extended conversation occurs?

Editing Dialogue• Do you vary your pattern, sometimes starting

with the “ “ and ending with who said it…other times reversing the order?

Ex.: “Get out of the house and call 911!” Casey shrieked as smoke billowed from our kitchen.

Ex.: Casey ran down the hallway shrieking, “Get out of the house and call 911!”

Editing Dialogue• If you used thoughts, “internal dialogue,” did you

remember to do the following three things:

1. Type it in italics2. Did NOT use any “ “3. Made it clear these are your inner thoughts and

not someone else speaking

After they have edited it for you:• Make your revisions and reprint what we will

refer to as your “second official” draft.

Two people need to edit your draft before I see it

• Have them make editing marks and suggestions and sign their name

• Use two different colored pens so we can tell which editor commented on what!