| Says Avi, "Read your first draft, and, if you think it's | | | | 6. Did I use strong verbs? How about too many |
| good, you're in trouble . . . The more you rewrite, the | | | | linking and helping verbs? |
| better your writing will be." For many kids, though, | | | | 7. Do numerous sentences start with the same word |
| the top writing priority is getting the thing done-often | | | | or two? |
| measured in length rather than quality. Hit the | | | | Now that the language and details of the piece are |
| required number of words or pages, redo it in ink or | | | | taken care of, it's editing time. In other words, |
| on a word processor-and the story ends unhappily | | | | double-checking grammar, punctuation, and spelling. |
| with poor grades and lots of "I hate writing." That's | | | | Here's the run-down: |
| the time to step in. | | | | 1. Divide words only between syllables: one-syllable |
| First piece of advice to share: avoid such words as | | | | words can't be divided. |
| nice, good, and great, as they're overused, as in nice | | | | 2. Stick to one tense--either past or present |
| day, looking nice, being nice . . . Same with good and | | | | throughout. |
| great. Next on the cut list: unnecessary adjectives | | | | 3. Make sure every sentence has a subject and a |
| and adverbs. Instead of: She is a very pretty, really | | | | verb, or it's a fragment-except in dialogue, as in |
| attractive woman, just call me gorgeous. In their | | | | "Ready?" |
| place, use strong verbs and nouns. For instance, | | | | 4. Avoid run-ons, inserting either a period or |
| replace "Susie drank her soda very quickly," with her | | | | semi-colon between two complete sentences, or a |
| gulping, guzzling, chugging, or inhaling a Pepsi. Your | | | | comma and conjunction (and, but, so). |
| child should also avoid overusing pronoun sentence | | | | 5. One main idea and its supporting details per |
| starters like I, she, we, they, etc. Ditto for overdoing | | | | paragraph. |
| linking (am, is, was) and helping (has, have, would) | | | | 6. For dialogue, start a new paragraph whenever |
| verbs. To check on these, he folds a sheet of paper | | | | someone new speaks-and use only as much as |
| in half lengthwise, labels the columns, "First Word" | | | | needed to move the story along. |
| and "Verbs," and lists the first word of every | | | | 7. Correctly use apostrophes to show possession: |
| sentence and every verb (including helpers) in the | | | | child's doll; women's clothes; the Smith's, Gus's, or |
| piece to uncover unfortunate patterns. Then | | | | Harrises' house |
| continuing with revision, these questions require | | | | 8. Use capitals for proper nouns and adjectives, to |
| answers: | | | | start sentences, plus all nouns and adjectives in |
| 1. Does my lead sentence draw the reader in? If not, | | | | titles-not the prepositions (A Wrinkle in Time) |
| Barry Lane suggests rereading the whole piece, | | | | 9. Read the piece backward to check for misspellings. |
| underlining the best line, and then starting the next | | | | Once you've shared these tips, the rest is up to your |
| draft with that sentence. | | | | child. Only after repeated revising and editing |
| 2. Have I supported my main idea/theme with | | | | sessions-and after she's read the piece out loud |
| enough supporting details and/or facts? | | | | several times and loves it-do you enter the scene. |
| 3. Is the piece well-organized, with a logical beginning, | | | | And, instead of making any corrections yourself, just |
| middle, and end? | | | | place a light checkmark in the margin of the line that |
| 4. Is my ending satisfying, a natural outgrowth of the | | | | needs language, grammar, punctuation, or spelling |
| piece, or is it just tacked on? | | | | reworking. One checkmark equals one error, and so |
| 5. Can I eliminate any unnecessary adjectives and | | | | on. That's it: the short take on revising and |
| adverbs? | | | | editing-the mainstays of the writing life. |