Kirsten Muller, M. A., M. Ed.

 The Writing Process  Key Concepts  Final Project  Editing  Editing Process  Common Errors  Finding Grammar Help  Sentence Level Editing  Word Level Editing  Formatting  Title Page  Submission of Final Project  Unit 10 Expectations  Q&A

 Pre-write/Brainstorm/Planning (Units 3 and 4)  First Draft (Units 5, 6, and 7)  Revise/Edit (Unit 8)  Final Draft (Unit 9)  Publish – submit for grade (Unit 9)

 Local issues -- The smaller, sentence-level issues within an essay such as grammar, sentence building, spelling and formatting.  Final draft -- This is your final version of your autobiography, which you have carefully checked for organization, paragraph development, a clear thesis statement and grammar issues. All sentence-level and word-level editing has been completed and the essay is in the correct format. The final draft represents your absolute best effort at fulfilling the autobiography assignment. It will be graded by your instructor.  Format -- The way your essay looks on the page itself. Different types of writing use different kinds of formatting. Think about how articles appear in your favorite magazines or local newspaper (narrow columns of text, etc.).  "Formal" formatting -- Includes double spacing all pages of text, making sure that paragraphs are indented 5 spaces and that your name, course and section number appear at the beginning of an essay.  Double spacing –- Using the double space function in Word to insert a blank line between each line of text. Never use enter to double space!  Indent –- Number of spaces from the left hand margin where a line of text begins.  Heading – Where your name, course and section number appear at the beginning of an essay.

 Editing -- This is the step AFTER revision; it involves re-thinking smaller, sentence- level issues within an essay such as grammar, sentence building, spelling and formatting. These are often called local issues.  Common Grammar Errors – misused words, sentence fragments, comma splices, run-ons, possessives, use of first or second person  Sentence-level editing -- The stage of checking your essay for possible problems within sentences like comma splices, fragments and fused (run-on) sentences.  Word-level editing -- The stage of checking your essay for possible problems with word usage, misspelled words or unnecessary repetition of words.

 Use the tools at your disposal – spelling and grammar check, dictionary, KUWC (live tutoring and Writing Resource Library)  Print a hard copy for review  Read it out loud (backwards and forwards)  Have a highlighter in hand  Walk away for 24 hours  Repeat the process

 Misused words (there/their, where/were)  Sentence fragments  Comma Splices  Run-on/Fused Sentences  Possessive/Plural  Use of first or second person

Accept/Except Adapt/Adopt Advice/Advise Affect/Affect All ready/ Already Capital/Capitol Choose/Chose Cite/Site/Sight Conscience/Conscious Everyday/Every day Hint: Use “Find” in Word Imply/Infer Its/It's Lay/Lie Loose/Lose Passed/Past Principal/Principle Right/Rite/Write Than/Then Their/There/They're To/Too Weather/Whether Were/Where

Think of yourself as using a microscope to go over all the individual words and sentences within your essay. Before you used a telescope to see the "big picture"; now you're looking at the more detailed characteristics of your writing. Here are some questions to ask yourself when editing at the sentence level:  Do I have any short, choppy sentences?  Do I have any excessively long, hard-to-understand sentences that lose focus?  Do all my sentences have clear subjects and verbs?  Do all my sentences have capitalized beginning words?  Do all my sentences have correct ending punctuation?  Do I have any comma splices, fragments or fused (run- on) sentences?

You'll also want to examine your essay at the word- level as well. Here are some questions to ask yourself:  Do I have any misused words or words with unclear meaning?  Do I have general nouns (desk, chair, computer) that I could replace with more specific nouns (modern black metallic desk, rolling leather chair, Dell laptop computer)?  Do I overuse any words or phrases?  Have I run spell check on my essay?  Are all proper nouns and names capitalized?

Finally, you'll want to take a step back and look at the overall formatting of your essay. Here are some questions to ask yourself about formatting:  Is the entire essay in double spacing format?  Do I indent all paragraphs 5 spaces?  Do I have a title page?  Are my name, my essay title and my class/section clearly identified on the first page (the title page)?  Did I avoid using bullets, numbered items, lists and other non-paragraph forms within the essay?  Is there odd spacing, misused italics, or other non- standard formatting?  Is my font in 12 point Arial in black?  Is my essay saved to a Microsoft Word document?

Introducing Kirsten Muller Kirsten Muller KU April 27, 2010

 Log into class as normal  Complete reading  Complete discussion (initial responses and two peer responses)  Check for any correspondence from instructor regarding final project  Check gradebook for Unit 9 grades and feedback and final grade  Contact advisor if needed

Any questions………… Remember, you can also:  me:  Post a question to Course Questions I’ll see you in Discussion. This is our last seminar. Have a great week!