Planning, drafting and proofreading · Year 7

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.

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