Audiobook - Excerpt from Editing Yourself
Description
Vocal Characteristics
Language
EnglishVoice Age
Young Adult (18-35)Accents
North American (General)Transcript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
Chapter 11 basic tools. Two important contributors to good writing are to continue learning and define answers to your questions. The two go hand in hand and to help you do them, you need some basic tools. Keep a dictionary within reach whenever you're writing or editing. Many editors Use the 10th edition of Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Use it to find out what words mean and to confirm the words mean what you think they mean. I used to find the preferred spelling of a word. Use it to see a word in context used to find out what proposition to use. Use it to see how seeming synonyms can be differentiated. For example, see the entry for Masterful and Merriam Webster's Dictionary to see how that word could be differentiated from domineering and peer IUs. Peremptory and imperative. A dictionary also helps and finding the accepted spelling of the names of people in places, and many dictionaries have a section on style and punctuation style sheet to be consistent in spelling, punctuation, hyphenation, capitalization and writing numbers and words are numerals. Keep a style sheet indispensable for writing by one person and imperative for writing by more than one person, a style sheet is a simple tool that can save time and avoid confusion. It is made by drawing a few lines on a sheet of paper and writing groups of initials in each box. Each time you write or see a word that has more than one acceptable style, write it in the appropriate box, for example, right decision making in the a B C D box. Traveling in the Q. R S T box. When you run into these words elsewhere, you can check the style against the style sheet rather than having to flip through all the pages to see how you spell them. The first time for long pieces often helps to keep a style sheet for each of the common areas of inconsistency. One for spelling, especially that of names in terms. One for hyphens, one for capitals, one for numbers and one for initials. And, lastly, a checklist. You should check the use and usefulness of each word. Raise sentence paragraph in section. If you do not have time for such a task, at least check a few basic things. Check all spelling hyphens, capitals, numbers and important names in terms against your style sheet. Make a contents page to identify problems of organization and to help your readers underline and try to rectify long sentences, awkward sentences, passive verbs and constructions that could be pair low, but or not check that subjects and verbs agree in number. Check that all who and which clauses are correctly punctuated. Check that all introductory cloth is beginning with an i. N G word. Relate to what immediately follows. Check that pairs. Siri's and compound subjects and predicates are arranged to short and long from simple to compound. Cut what is of little use and proof. Read everything you send out. A list of proofreaders marks is under Proof Reader and Merriam Webster's Dictionary.