Editing
Once you have revised your writing, elaborated, cut, added important details for support, changed the arrangement, you will want to achieve a final polish.
Consider These Suggestions
- Read your work, sentence by sentence, from back to front.
- Have a friend read your work out loud just as you have written it.
- Print your work triple-spaced or in a larger font so you can catch any errors.
- Use spell and grammar checks on your computer.
Common Usage Errors
- Affect / Effect
Affect is usually a verb meaning "to influence." Effect is a noun meaning "result." - Could of
Could of is nonstandard for could have. - Quote / Quotation
Quote is a verb; quotation is a noun. - Than / Then
Than is a conjunction used for comparison; then is an adverb denoting time. - There / Their / They'Re
There is an adverb specifying place; their indicates possessive; they're is a contraction for they are. - Who / That
Use who to refer to persons, that to refer to things. - Would of
Would of is nonstandard for would have. - Your / You'Re
Your is a possessive pronoun; you're is a contraction for you are.