Empowering Young Writers: The Art of Self-Editing

Spring Cleaning Your Writing

Teaching students to revise and edit their own work is a cornerstone of effective writing instruction. By developing these skills, students become more independent learners, critical thinkers, and confident communicators. But how can we help our students become their own best editors?

Why Self-Editing Matters

• Students who can self-edit are less reliant on teachers for feedback, allowing them to take ownership of their writing.

• The process of revising and editing demands critical thinking from students as they analyze their work, make informed choices and enhance their writing.

• As students see their writing improve through self-editing, their confidence in their abilities grows.

Strategies for Effective Self-Editing

• Break down the process into manageable steps: brainstorming ideas, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.
• Model the process for students, thinking aloud as you revise and edit a writing sample
• Use anchor charts or checklists to guide students through the process.
• Focus on one or two areas at a time, such as capitalization or punctuation.
• As students become proficient, introduce new editing skills.

 

Create a Positive Writing Environment:

• Foster a classroom culture where mistakes are opportunities for growth.
• Celebrate the writing process, not just the final product.

 

Encourage Peer Editing:

• Pair students for peer editing sessions.
• Provide a structured format for giving and receiving feedback.
• Teach students how to offer constructive criticism.
• Use online tools and resources to support self-editing.
• Explore grammar and spelling checkers, but emphasize the importance of human judgment.

 

Tips for Student Success

• Set Realistic Goals: Start with small, achievable goals and gradually increase expectations.

• Provide Ample Time: Allow students sufficient time for both drafting and revising.

• Offer Specific Feedback: When providing feedback, focus on specific areas for improvement.

• Use a Variety of Texts: Expose students to different genres and writing styles to expand their editing skills.

By implementing these strategies, you can help your students develop the essential skills of self-editing and become confident, independent writers. Remember, the journey to becoming a skilled writer is a process, and with patience and practice, your students will achieve remarkable results.

Here's a free resource that will help students practice removing redundant words to improve their writing.

Get your FREE Resource here.

Since I am a fiction writer, I spend many hours each day revising and editing my manuscripts. I have created resources for secondary students that will help them polish and improve their writing, too. The best way to purchase these activities is in a money-saving bundle, but they can also be purchased individually.

Save 20% on the Bundle

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How to Reduce Wordy Sentences

Email, text messaging, Twitter, Facebook, Zoom, and other forms of internet communities are the way people interact with each other.

Am I against using these new ways to communicate? Absolutely not. I use them, too, and find it quite enjoyable to interact with friends both old and new.

Am I tempted to shorten my messages and tweets with letters and numerals such as, "I want 2 C U 2 day?" Not really.

Because I am a writer and a grammar teacher, I try to condense my words into succinct phrases, clauses, and sentences that convey my exact meaning while using fewer words.

With practice, anyone can become a better writer. One of the best ways to improve one’s writing is to cut extraneous words from essays, emails, texts, or manuscripts.

It takes work to say what you mean, but anyone can do it well with practice.

Learn to:

• repeat a word or phrase only when necessary.
• avoid a careless or needless repetition of a thought in different words.
• avoid clumsy, roundabout expressions.
• eliminate needless words and choppy sentences.
• avoid the double negative.
• use adverbs sparingly.
• choose the precise word to convey your meaning.
• avoid clichés.

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It is quality, not quantity that counts in writing. Most good writing is not cluttered with superfluous words.

Here are three ways to improve your writing:

(1) Eliminate extra words and the unnecessary repetition of ideas. 

For example:

Wordy: The dog played with a small, little, round ball, which was made of rubber.

Better: The dog played with a little rubber ball.

(2) Reduce clauses to phrases and phrases to single words.

For example:

Wordy:  We decided that we would leave the meeting early.

Better: We decided to leave the meeting early.

Wordy: The illegal immigrants who had been captured were deported to Mexico.

Better: The captured illegal immigrants were deported to Mexico.

(3) Avoid trying to sound like Shakespeare. Write naturally. 

For example:

Wordy:  Illumination is required when the sun has sunk into the west and left the premises in darkness.

Better: Turn on the lights at dark.

What about you? Do you sometimes use more words that you really need? I know I do, so when I go back and proofread what I have written, I often find myself tapping the delete key.

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Twitter is a great place for people to learn to practice reducing long, convoluted, rambling sentences into 280 characters.

Click here to download a FREE exercise to practice reducing longer sentences into shorter, concise statements.

Here are some related resources in my store that you might find useful for your students.

Avoiding Redundancies - A Revision Technique for Writers

Just Say It! How to Avoid Wordiness in Writing

Revise and Edit Papers and Manuscripts

“It ain't whatcha write, it's the way atcha write it.”

                                                ------- Jack Kerouac

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Say What You Mean and Avoid Redundancies

Good writers simply say what they mean and avoid excess verbiage.

Don’t say: “In my opinion, I think you are wrong.” Instead, just say: “I think you are wrong.” (Obviously, this is your opinion.)

Don't say: "At this point in time." Instead, just say, "now."

Don't say: "I thought to myself." Instead, just say, "I thought." (Obviously, your thoughts are directed to yourself. They are your thoughts, after all.)

Good writers avoid using redundant expressions.

Redundancy generally occurs when a word or phrase that already has specific meaning is further modified by words or phrases that mean the same thing. 

In your writing, you should always strive to find the most specific words to express your thoughts.

Then, when you find those words, you must also resist the temptation to embellish them. If you do the result often results in redundancy. 

The following examples are quite common. You may hear them most often on the news or read them online or in print. But, just because they are commonly used doesn't make them good writing.

Avoid redundant expressions to make your writing clear, concise, and clutter-free. Consider the following examples. The words in parentheses are not necessary.

blue (in color)
small/large (in size)
(first) discovered/introduced/began
combine/add/mix/link/weave (together)
Easter (Sunday)
a.m. (in the morning)
(free) gift
(added) bonus
drown/starve/strangle (to death)
(Jewish) synagogue
the winter/summer/spring/fall (months)
(fully) comprehensive
visible (to the eye)
(mental) telepathy
(old) relic
reason (why)
consensus (of opinion)
(previous/past) experience/history
(new) baby/invention/discovery
(remaining) vestige
spin (in circles)

thought(to himself)

These are just a few examples. There are many more. Be watchful and eliminate redundancies from your writing whenever possible.

Click here for an exercise you can use with your students to help them master this writing revision technique.

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