Planning, drafting and proofreading

Good writing happens in stages: plan, draft, revise, proofread. Planning means deciding your purpose, your reader and your main points. In the draft you get your ideas down; when you revise you improve the words and sentences; when you proofread you hunt for mistakes in spelling, capital letters, punctuation and grammar.

Key facts

  • Plan: who is it for and why? Jot down your main points in order (a list, a spider diagram or a table).
  • Revise: join short sentences, cut repetition, choose precise words: ⟦The big brown dog barked.⟧ rather than ⟦The dog was big. The dog was brown. The dog barked.⟧
  • Proofread spelling: ⟦libary⟧ → ⟦library⟧. Capitals: sentences, names, places, days, months and ⟦I⟧.
  • Proofread punctuation: ⟦?⟧ for questions, commas in lists, apostrophes: ⟦I cant⟧ → ⟦I can't⟧.
  • Proofread grammar: the verb matches the subject and the time: ⟦They was⟧ → ⟦They were⟧, ⟦I seen⟧ → ⟦I saw⟧. Read your work aloud, slowly: you will hear many mistakes.

Worked examples

Example 1

Correct it: ⟦We visited paris in the summer.⟧

  1. ⟦Paris⟧ is the name of a place.
  2. Names of places start with a capital letter.

Answer: ⟦We visited Paris in the summer.⟧

Example 2

What kind of mistake? ⟦She go to school by bus.⟧

  1. The subject ⟦She⟧ needs ⟦goes⟧ in the present simple.
  2. The verb doesn't agree: it is a grammar mistake. ⟦She goes to school by bus.⟧

Answer: grammar

Example 3

Improve the draft: ⟦It was cold. I put on my coat.⟧

  1. The first sentence is the reason for the second.
  2. Join them with ⟦because⟧ and a comma: ⟦Because it was cold, I put on my coat.⟧

Answer: ⟦Because it was cold, I put on my coat.⟧