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Subject:Re: How do you edit your own writing? From:Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- progeny -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 24 Jan 2001 15:14:14 -0800
Sanjay Srikonda wrote:
>
> I have a question for the TWs out there who are also tasked with editing
> their own writing. I've attempted to pass what I write by SMEs and the like
> to at least to have a second set of eyes, but oftentimes, beyond the
> technical corrections, I don't often get any feedback into the style or
> grammar, even spelling (homonym use).
>
> Does anyone have any good techniques for editing your own work?
>
1. Leave it for a day or more. If you can't do that, take a break
before editing it.
2. View it in a different way. Print it out if it's on screen, print
it in a different font if you're alread using hardcopy.
3. Use a ruler to go over everything line by line.
4. Read paragraph by paragraph from the end.
5. Read paragraphs randomly (and check them off as you read them).
6. Keep a list of your common errors. Read through once for each
error.
7. Read out loud to get a different perspective.
8. Role-play, pretending you're a reader who has never seen the work
before - preferably a reader who is not very knowledgable and not
very smart.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- progeny -dot- com
Director of Marketing and Communications, Progeny Linux Systems
Contributing Editor, Maximum Linux
"Theirs is a land of hope and glory
Mine is the green field and the factory floor
Theirs are the skies all dark with bombers
Mine is the peace we knew between the wars."
- Billy Bragg, "Between the Wars"
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