Writing Strategies: Post-Writing Techniques

Post-Writing Strategies

  • Definition: Post-writing is the stage where the hard work your writing shines through. It involves rewording, editing, and reorganizing your essays.

  • Main Components:

    • Revising: The overall process of reviewing your draft from start to finish to enhance the quality of your writing.
    • Editing: A meticulous and detailed process focused on clarifying and polishing your writing at the word and line level. This includes correcting grammatical errors and ensuring clarity in your message.
    • Proofreading: The final step that focuses on identifying and correcting typos, punctuation errors, and formatting issues.

Steps in Revising Your Draft

  1. Bird's Eye View:

    • Read your draft as a whole to understand the overall flow and coherence.
    • Check if you have successfully achieved your writing purpose (e.g., to entertain, to inform).
    • If satisfied with the overall draft, you may proceed to editing.

  2. Portion By Portion Review:

    • Examine the draft section by section to enhance the connections between various ideas.
    • Ensure that discussions around central themes effectively sustain the reader's interest.

  3. Crafting an Effective Conclusion:

    • The conclusion should resonate with readers and leave a lasting impression.
    • Aim to create a sense of closure that compels the reader to continue thinking about the work.

Editing Process

  • Key Point: Never make the mistake of editing before revising.

  • Revisiting the Draft: Editing often requires multiple readings of your draft, refining and clarifying until it resonates well.

Common Proofreading Symbols

  • Familiarize yourself with common proofreading symbols to effectively communicate changes in your writing. Examples include marking spelling errors, incorrect punctuation, and stylistic adjustments.