The Sentence Smart Writer’s Guide: the essential checklist for all writers
How to review, edit, and revise your sentences and paragraphs
Review, edit, and revise your sentences and paragraphs by applying your knowledge of grammatical structures to your writing. The following six self-editing steps are the keys to ensuring that you have created coherent, well-written paragraphs and essays:
🔲 Step One: Check for complete sentences by asking yourself the following questions:
Have I expressed my ideas in complete sentences? Does each statement have a subject-verb relationship that makes complete sense? In other words, is each statement a complete thought? Does each statement have a subject and a predicate that makes sense? Is each subject connected to a verb? If you find incomplete thoughts or fragments, then turn them into sentences by creating a statement with a subject-verb relationship that makes complete sense.
🔲 Step Two: Make sure that your sentences are either combined or separated properly.
Check for any group of words that have subject-verb relationships. These groups of words, as you already know, are called clauses. Make sure that independent clauses (complete thoughts) are properly separated with periods or combined with commas and coordinating conjunctions, or colons, or semicolons. You may also choose to create complex sentences by using subordinating conjunctions to combine two independent clauses into a dependent-independent clause relationship.
🔲 Step Three: Make sure that the subject-verb relationship within each sentence is clear and easy for the reader to identify.
Ask yourself: Is it easy for me or anyone else to clearly identify the subject-verb relationship in each of my clauses and complete sentences? Will the reader find it easy to ask and answer the following questions about each sentence or clause: Who or what is the subject of this group of words? And what is the writer saying about the subject? If you can answer these questions quickly, then perhaps it will also be easy for the reader to do so. You may want someone else to try to ask and answer those questions about each of your clauses or sentences to see how easy—or difficult—you have made it for the reader to follow your thoughts.
🔲 Step Four: Make sure that you have created logical relationships (or connections) within and between your sentences.
It’s important for the reader to know how the ideas within and between your sentences are related to each other. For example, the terms you choose such as therefore, but, when, or however, can help the reader to understand whether you are illustrating a cause and effect or contrast relationship within and between your sentences. Check your complex or compound sentences to make sure that you have used the correct conjunction to connect your clauses. Then check to see whether you can add a transitional word such as therefore, or however between sentences to show how the ideas in each sentence are connected to others.
🔲 Step Five: Check your punctuation and spelling.
Make sure that you used periods, commas, semicolons, colons, and question marks properly. Then double check your spelling. Finally, make sure that your verb endings are correct.
🔲Step Six: Review your entire paragraph.
How to review, edit, and revise your sentences and paragraphs
Review, edit, and revise your sentences and paragraphs by applying your knowledge of grammatical structures to your writing. The following six self-editing steps are the keys to ensuring that you have created coherent, well-written paragraphs and essays:
🔲 Step One: Check for complete sentences by asking yourself the following questions:
Have I expressed my ideas in complete sentences? Does each statement have a subject-verb relationship that makes complete sense? In other words, is each statement a complete thought? Does each statement have a subject and a predicate that makes sense? Is each subject connected to a verb? If you find incomplete thoughts or fragments, then turn them into sentences by creating a statement with a subject-verb relationship that makes complete sense.
🔲 Step Two: Make sure that your sentences are either combined or separated properly.
Check for any group of words that have subject-verb relationships. These groups of words, as you already know, are called clauses. Make sure that independent clauses (complete thoughts) are properly separated with periods or combined with commas and coordinating conjunctions, or colons, or semicolons. You may also choose to create complex sentences by using subordinating conjunctions to combine two independent clauses into a dependent-independent clause relationship.
🔲 Step Three: Make sure that the subject-verb relationship within each sentence is clear and easy for the reader to identify.
Ask yourself: Is it easy for me or anyone else to clearly identify the subject-verb relationship in each of my clauses and complete sentences? Will the reader find it easy to ask and answer the following questions about each sentence or clause: Who or what is the subject of this group of words? And what is the writer saying about the subject? If you can answer these questions quickly, then perhaps it will also be easy for the reader to do so. You may want someone else to try to ask and answer those questions about each of your clauses or sentences to see how easy—or difficult—you have made it for the reader to follow your thoughts.
🔲 Step Four: Make sure that you have created logical relationships (or connections) within and between your sentences.
It’s important for the reader to know how the ideas within and between your sentences are related to each other. For example, the terms you choose such as therefore, but, when, or however, can help the reader to understand whether you are illustrating a cause and effect or contrast relationship within and between your sentences. Check your complex or compound sentences to make sure that you have used the correct conjunction to connect your clauses. Then check to see whether you can add a transitional word such as therefore, or however between sentences to show how the ideas in each sentence are connected to others.
🔲 Step Five: Check your punctuation and spelling.
Make sure that you used periods, commas, semicolons, colons, and question marks properly. Then double check your spelling. Finally, make sure that your verb endings are correct.
🔲Step Six: Review your entire paragraph.
