The Writing Process, continued

Edit and Proofread

After you revise your draft for content, it’s time to check it for mistakes.

  • 1 Check Your Sentences When you edit, check that your sentences are clear, complete, and correct. Ask yourself:

    • • Does each sentence have a subject and a predicate?

  • 2 Check for Mistakes Proofread to find and correct errors in capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and spelling. Look especially for:

    • • capital letters, end marks, apostrophes, and quotation marks

    • • subject-verb agreement

    • • use of pronouns

    • • misspelled words.

  • 3 Mark Your Corrections Use the Editing and Proofreading Marks to show your corrections or make the corrections when you find them in your document on the computer.

  • 4 Make a Final Copy Rewrite your work and make the corrections you marked. If you are using a computer, print your corrected copy.

Trang Bui’s Proofread Draft

My family stood by the big, glass windows and watched the plane land at SeaTac illustration of a word with a proofreader's revision mark in Seattle on October 28, 2007. We were so illustration of a word with a proofreader's check spelling circle around it When the passengers started coming through the door, we lined up so we could see. I had to lift my little sister up so she could look over the heads of the people in front. Suddenly everyone was hugging and crying. My little sister tried to hide because she didn’t know my grandparents illustration of a word with a proofreader's revision mark. It took four long years, but my grandparents finally arrived!

Editing and Proofreading Marks

illustration of caret insertion mark that looks like an upside down VAdd.
illustration of proofreader's deletion mark—a line that loops once aroundTake out.
illustration of replace copy mark—a line with an insert caret mark at the endReplace with this.
illustration of check spelling proofreader's mark that is a circleCheck Spelling.
illustration of proofreaders capitalization mark—three horizontal linesCapitalize.
illustration of proofreader's lower case mark—a slash that slants upward rightMake lowercase.
illustration: two vertical lines with a C-shaped line going through the top partMake new paragraph