2. REVISING
- is the process of making sure that the
document says what you want it to say and
says it professionally. Develop your own
technique for revising.
3. Studying the documents by yourself:
Read and reread the document.
Overall meaning and clarity
Organization and logical development
Correctness
4. GUIDELINES
REVISING BY YOURSELF
1. Let it sit. Set the documents aside for a while, overnight if
possible, to gain some distance and see it as your readers
will.
2. Read it loud. Listen for awkward phrases, poorly developed
ideas, illogical reasoning, or missing evidence.
3. Use checklist. Modify checklist, such as those in this book, to
include the points your instructors have made about your
writing.
4. Review a printout of your draft. You can revise effectively
right on the screen, but be sure to print a copy of your draft,
too. Because a printer provides a much sharper image than a
screen, you’ll see the draft- and it’s problems- as your
readers will.
5. USING REVISION SOFTWARE
1. Spell Checkers. A spell checker alerts you when it sees a
word that isn’t in its dictionary. You can add the word to your
dictionary so that the spell checker will recognize it in the
future.
2. Grammar Checker. A grammar checker can help you
identify and fix potential grammatical and stylistic
problems, such as wordiness, subject/verb dis-agreement,
and double negatives.
6. 3. Thesauri. A thesaurus (plural thesauri) list synonyms or
related words. An electronic thesaurus has the same
strengths and weaknesses as a printed one.
The revision tools discussed in this section cannot replace a careful
reading by you and by other people. These tools don’t understand
your subject your audience, and your purpose. They cannot identify
unclear explanation contradictions, inaccurate data, inappropriate
tone, and so forth. Use tools, but don’t rely on them. Revise your
document yourself, then get from someone you trust.
