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Checking Yourself OLD

Checking Yourself OLD

Most common writing mistakes in English are simple mistakes that you can find and correct with little attention.

Use these two steps when writing:

  1. Write
  2. Re-read/edit/check yourself

DO NOT do step 2 while you are on step 1. It will make your work much longer!

Write freely, and only then go back and edit.

Some common mistakes to pay attention to when checking your work:
  1. Make sure your inner logic is kept and your writing makes sense.
  2. Try to avoid things that don’t add much but may cause confusion.
  3. People tend to have a short attention span. Using headings, bolds, underlines, and so forth, can help.
  4. Remove words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs which turn out to be redundant (unnecessary or not really helpful).
  5. Check your spelling using a good spell checker tool.
  6. If possible, use a grammar checker tool. Take into consideration that they are right in many cases, but can still mislead you. So always use your own judgement.
  7. Check for subject/verb agreement and singular/plural issues.
    For example: “He have no time to help you.” => “He has no time to help you.”
  8. Check for article issues (missing or unnecessary articles).
    For example:” He has a time to help you.” => “He has time to help you.”
  9. Check for collocation and preposition issues.
    For example: “He is afraid from the dark” => “He is afraid of the dark”
    “He finished the deal.” => “He closed the deal.”

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY, (FRENCH AUTHOR)

Next: Read Aloud

It is amazing how many things you can catch when reading aloud instead of reading “in your head”.

  • Take a fresh look at your writing, and start reading it aloud nicely, with intention.
  • Change any part you don’t like, and then read that part again, and continue from there.

Last Step: Stop.

There is literally no end to the amount of edits and improvements you can make. When you are happy with the result, stop. You and your readers will benefit more from ten 95% perfect pieces of writing, than only one 100% perfect one 🙂