(How to) Detect Errors (Nothing Is Perfect)?
Ideally, every piece of writing should begin with a draft. But in class and during exams without the luxury of time, only 50 minutes, one has to plan, write and adapt as the writing progresses from paragraph to paragraph seamlessly and coherently. This is where the skill and ability to read, check and change are useful and essential tools for beginning and intermediate writers. Even adult writers need to re-check their writings in their daily work as well as in everyday emails.
Some good pointers are:
check after completing one or two paragraphs instead of waiting till the last sentence as there will be too much to screen through and you will surely miss something as you read through chunks of text. By checking after every one or two paragraphs, it keeps you on track and focused.
develop an effective habit of checking spelling, punctuation and the use of pronouns as you move from sentence to sentence; with practice, it can be done quite effortlessly.
zoom into tenses, structures and syntax next. This really requires a certain level of language competency but anything less would produce a less than satisfactory piece of writing, no matter how much good ideas had gone into the whole process of developing the story.
look again at how the story develops; are the ideas logical and relevant to the plot and are there any gaps which need to be addressed. It is good to be imaginative but being incredible is an ‘overkill’.
Further Reading:
(i)Introduction
(ii) Describe the Scene
(iii) Describing People (Characters)
(iv)Describing Action(s)
(v)Dscribing Feelings (Emotions)
(vi)Using Dialogues
(vii)Be Different (Beginning & Ending)
(ix)Conclusion
Mr. James Chow (Nov 2013)
English Tutor
Kent Ridge Tutors @ Jurong
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