
Poor writers sweat over correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling
as they write. By contrast, correctness is one of the last things
good writers think about.
Good writers understand that their first job is to find something
to say. If they don't have anything worth saying, correct writing
mechanics won't save them.
What the pros do
I'm sure you've heard that most professional writers don't edit
their work as they compose. If they try to correct as they compose,
they may lose their train of thought. Professional writers usually
leave corrections until after they finish writing.
The English ed community has taken that observation to mean that
all writers should do all their planning, all their
composing, and all their revising before they edit any of
it.
Let's use our heads, folks.
We cannot expect the procedures John McPhee uses to work for Josh
McFool.
Even the pros correct some errors as they write. If they type comet
instead of camel, they will correct that error instead of
writing until the final draft and hoping they see it then.
What the pros don't do is scrutinize each sentence for correct grammar,
punctuation, spelling, and usage as they compose it. They save the
serious search for errors until they are sure the paper contains
all the content it needs in the right order.
Also, professional writers make far fewer serious errors as they
write than beginners do. (That's why they are professionals.)
If Josh's writing skeleton is such a mess even Josh can't decipher
it, you aren't going to help him by telling him to hold off on corrections
until after he's finished his first draft.
One pro tip for novices should try
One practice of professional writers that does work well for beginners
is revising work before editing it.
Revision involves adding, subtracting, and rearranging content
so the draft follows the writer's comprehensive plan.
It makes little sense to correct errors in portions that may need
to be deleted because they contain duplicate content.
The writing process is plan, compose, revise, edit.
Modify strategies for beginners
Like the pros, even beginning writers can wait to correct grammar
errrors until they finish drafting. But unlike the pros, beginners
need to correct there grammar errors when they finish their work
at every stage of the the writing process.
That means, before Josh can say he's finished drafting a working
thesis he must
- Correct his spelling in the sentence.
- Correct his grammar in the sentence.
- Correct his punctuation in the sentence.
Before Josh can say he's finished drafting his writing skeleton,
he must
- Correct his spelling in those three sentences.
- Correct his grammar in those three sentences.
- Correct his punctuation those three sentences.
Before Josh can say he's finished drafting his comprehensive plan,
he must
- Correct his spelling in the plan.
- Correct his grammar in the plan.
- Correct his punctuation in the plan.
I don't think I need to go on, do I? You get the pricture: every
time students must produce written evidence of their progress, they
should correct that document before they go on to the next stage
of writing development.
created 28-Oct-2008; updated 30-Oct-2008