Creative-Nonfiction-Lesson-10 about revising

this is a senior high school topic in creative nonfiction

1. PROOF
READING

2. After coming up with your draft, your most important
work as a writer comes in. Revising a draft which is
usually rough and incomplete requires thorough
evaluation. As a writer, you have to examine your
writing carefully and work diligently towards its
improvement. To help you get through the process of
revising, Lee Odell, Richard Vacca and Renee Hobbs
(2001) suggest the following steps for potential writers
to follow in order to make their draft as good as it can
be.
REVISING

3. Assess your draft by paying attention to its
strengths and weaknesses. Read your work
at least three times, focusing first on
content, then on organization, and finally
on style. You can ask a peer to read your
draft and to extend an honest feedback.
1. EVALUATE YOUR DRAFT.

4. 2. REVISE THE DRAFT TO IMPROVE ITS
CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION.
After identifying your writing’s strengths
and weaknesses, fixing problems follows. It
would be more beneficial to do this with a
peer for he/she might mention points of
improvement or offer suggestions for
changes. You can use the following
strategies to improve your draft’s content
and organization.

5. 2. REVISE THE DRAFT TO IMPROVE ITS
CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION.
a. Add.
Adding sensory details, interesting facts, examples,
and illustrations will surely give life to your writing.
Add connecting words and phrases such as
moreover, as a result, however, furthermore, also,
yet, for example, and therefore to indicate
relationships of ideas.

6. 2. REVISE THE DRAFT TO IMPROVE ITS
CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION.
b. Delete.
Be tolerant of eliminating repetition and wordiness in your
sentences. Omit any words, phrases, or sentences that do
not contribute to the main idea of a given paragraph for
these can only contribute to the vagueness of the message
or idea.

7. 2. REVISE THE DRAFT TO IMPROVE ITS
CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION.
c. Replace.
Replace clichés and vague verbs and nouns with clearer
and more precise language. Make sure to keep a dictionary
and a thesaurus beside you while revising for these are
invaluable tools to help you.

8. 2. REVISE THE DRAFT TO IMPROVE ITS
CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION.
d. Rearrange.
To ensure that sentences in each paragraph flow logically
and clearly from one to another, move any idea that seems
out of place to a more appropriate paragraph.

9. 2. REVISE THE DRAFT TO IMPROVE ITS
CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION.
e. Elaborate.
Your main ideas need an adequate support. Thus, you may
need to elaborate your idea with additional details, facts,
examples, illustrations, sensory images, quotations, or
anecdotes.

10. Revise for style by considering some of the following
strategies:
•a. Get rid of slang, clichés, and worn-out verbs.
•b. Use the active voice more often.
•c. Ensure that sentence length and sentence
beginnings are varied.
3. REVISE THE DRAFT TO IMPROVE ITS
STYLE.
•d. Combine sentences to add variety or
complexity.

11. After completing steps one to three, re-reading your final
version is worthwhile. This is done so as to catch and
correct each error. Proofreading is a thorough and tiring
work. As a writer, you have to exhaust your utmost
concentration as you read and re-read your draft.
Proofread your draft three times the second time aloud.
Sometimes your ears catch inconsistencies that your eyes
miss. Use a dictionary to double-check spellings of words
of which you are uncertain. Make sure your final draft
follows the conventions of written language.
4. PROOFREAD, OR EDIT YOUR FINAL DRAFT.

12. Revising and
Proofreading
Symbols

13. Revising and
Proofreading
Symbols

17. COPYREADING
A copy is the typewritten material sent to the linotypist or to a
computer typesetter to be typeset. It may be a news story, a feature
article, an editorial, or a literary piece
Copyreading comes from the words copy and reading. A copy is the
typewritten material sent to the linotypist (letterpress printing)
computer typesetter to be typeset.
Reading is editing or correcting errors done by the editor or copyreader

18. COPYREADING
Copyreading is much like the work of an English teacher correcting
compositions, except that the copyreader uses appropriate copyreading
symbols universally known by printers.
It is the art of arranging, correcting, and selecting the quality and type of
news.
A copyreader is a newspaperman who occupies a seat on the news desk,
the nerve center of the staff. He corrects errors in grammar, errors in
fact, errors in structure, and errors in style. He eliminates libelous and
derogatory statements, opinions in news stories, and those contrary to
our laws and good taste.

19. COPYREADING
Errors in grammar include errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization,
subject-verb agreement, tenses, among others. A copyreader corrects
errors in fact as when the reporter calls a principal an assistant principal,
or when he gives the wrong middle initial or age of a person.
In copyreading a news report, the copyreader should see to it that it
begins with the proper lead and that this lead contains the most
important facts. He sees to it that the paragraphs are arranged
according to decreasing importance following the inverted pyramid
structure. He kills or eliminates words that tend to editorialize. He
crosses out redundant words and verbal deadwood.

20. PREPARING THE COPY
1. Use a computer, never submit it in long hand.
2. Type on one side of the sheet only and in double space.
3. Begin his story (for news) about three inches from the top of the page.
4. Indent deeply – at least five spaces – the beginning of each paragraph. 5.Identify
on the first page the story with a slugline - the name of the paper, words
identifying the story like "Fire" or "Student election", the reporter, and the date.
6. Type the word "More" at the bottom of each page except the last, where he has
to indicate the end of the story with a "30" or #mark.
After the first page, the succeeding page or pages should carry the original
identifying words and the page number like: Student election (...) The reporter, in
preparing his own copy, must observe or follow the style sheet adopted by his

21. PREPARING THE COPY
After the first page, the succeeding page or pages should carry the original
identifying words and the page number like:
Student election (...)
The reporter, in preparing his own copy, must observe or follow the style sheet
adopted by his paper in all pages, and for all the issues for the sake of consistency.

22. DUTIES OF A
COPYREADER
A copyreader goes over the story once to get a general idea of what it is all about. This will
likewise help him formulate the headline, which is a part of his job. Then, he goes over it a
second time to do any or all of the following as the case may be:
1. Straighten out ungrammatical constructions.
2. Shorten sentences and tighten paragraphs.
3. See that the paper's style requirements are strictly followed.
4. Check names, addresses, titles, designations, identifications, figures, and others.
5. Rewrite the story completely if it is poorly written.
6. Rewrite the lead or the first few paragraphs whenever necessary, but must never tamper
with the facts unless he is sure of his corrections.

23. DUTIES OF A
COPYREADER
7. Delete all opinion, speculations, and statements which are without attribution or sources
8. Watch out for slanting or any attempt to present the story in a subtly biased way.
9. Watch out for libelous statements.
10. Recheck figures and totals.
11. Cross out adjectives which tend to make a story sound overwritten
12. Cut a story to size or to required length if need be.
13. Check attributions and see to it that they are properly identified
14. Challenges facts, claims, or reports when they sound anomalous, illogical and incredible.
15. Check sluglines and paging sequences.
16. Write headlines.

24. DUTIES OF A
COPYREADER
In copyreading, the corrections are placed inside the text where the errors have been
committed, while in proofreading, the corrections are placed in the margins.
Certainly, a well-edited paper saves the paper from criticism and the editors from libel suits
and embarrassment. Finally, it helps the newspaper bring accurate information to the
reader.

25. INSTRUCTION TO
COPYREADERS
1. Use a soft, black pencil.
2. Write your corrections, changes, subheads, and headlines so
that they can be read quickly and correctly.
3. Ring or encircle the slugline. "More", "30" and all other
instructions to the printer called printer's specification.
4. It is better to erase pencilled marks that you wish to
cancel than to cross them out.
5. If many changes are made, it is better to retype. Then go
over the copy again for errors.

26. INSTRUCTION TO
COPYREADERS
6. Turn out legible copy always. Make it as
neat as possible.
7. When the copy leaves your hand, it
should be in final form.