educational seminar about editing and proofreading

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What’s easier than destroying the evidence?

What’s cheaper than destroying the evidence?

Effective Writing

• Clear

• Simple

• Easy to understand

• Impossible to misunderstand

• Error free

• Spend some time thinking before you start writing your rough draft.


• Compile a list of your ideas as you are thinking.



• Place the list in some order that makes sense to you.




• Write the rough draft.




• Write the rough draft.

• Write a final draft that shows some changes from the initial draft.

1. After you finish writing it, put it away until you’ve forgotten what you wrote. You want to look at it again with “fresh eyes.” Instead of seeing what you meant to write, you want to see what you actually did write.

Five Tips For Editing Your Own Writing


2. Print your manuscript and edit it on paper. Away from the computer. You’ll see more.




3. Read it aloud. You’ll automatically simplify it that way, which is always good.





4. Use the spelling and grammar features in your word processor. They aren’t perfect – ask anybody – but if you know the rules, you can decide which suggestions to accept and which to ignore.





4. Use the spelling and grammar features in your word processor. They aren’t perfect – ask anybody – but if you know the rules, you can decide which suggestions to accept and which to ignore.

5. Print it again. You missed something. Ink and toner cartridges are a racket, aren’t they?


Bonus Tip: After I do all that, I show my writing to my lovely wife, and she shows me what else I missed. Who do you use?


Why should you self-edit if you’re just going to hire an editor anyway? Why not make him do everything? Helping him probably won’t lower his price.

MichaelEdits.com






Writers Show How It’s Not Done

Studies indicate that 25 (OH) vitamin D is most likely transferred by a passive or facilitative process transplacentally.


Studies indicate that 25 (OH) vitamin D is most likely transferred by a passive or facilitative process transplacentally.

Studies indicate that 25 (OH) vitamin D is most likely transferred passively or actively across the placenta.


Thus, it would seem reasonable that shortening of 10 cm at skeletal maturity or predicted shortening of this amount when the child reaches adulthood would be sufficient to consider Syme amputation.


Thus, it would seem reasonable that shortening of 10 cm at skeletal maturity or predicted shortening of this amount when the child reaches adulthood would be sufficient to consider Syme amputation.

A Syme amputation should be considered for a shortening or predicted shortening of 10 cm at skeletal maturity.


If the organism demonstrates to be a staph on the gram stain, one may consider drilling the femoral neck for prophylactic decompression as this may be secondary to a metaphyseal osteomyelitis.


If the organism demonstrates to be a staph on the gram stain, one may consider drilling the femoral neck for prophylactic decompression as this may be secondary to a metaphyseal osteomyelitis.

If the gram stain shows staphylococci, consider drilling the femoral neck to drain the metaphyseal abscess.


A 3-year-old female presented with pain and swelling of the right elbow and was noted to have decreased use of the arm.


A 3-year-old female presented with pain and swelling of the right elbow and was noted to have decreased use of the arm.

A 3-year-old girl had pain and swelling of her right elbow and decreased use of her arm.


It has been suggested that the utilization of surgical intervention be deferred until attenuation of the infectious symptomatology.


It has been suggested that the utilization of surgical intervention be deferred until attenuation of the infectious symptomatology.

Jones recommends that surgery be delayed if the patient has an infection.


It is common for the need to voluntarily evacuate the pouch to occur on one occasion nightly; more frequent defecation interfering with the patient’s sleep has not been encountered in our continent patients.


It is common for the need to voluntarily evacuate the pouch to occur on one occasion nightly; more frequent defecation interfering with the patient’s sleep has not been encountered in our continent patients.

Patients who are continent need only empty their stomach pouches once each night.


The study confirmed the hypothesis that clinical instructors of undergraduate medical students would choose instructional techniques limiting active student involvement in patient care activities when faced with problematical situations.



.....wait for it.....



Medical teachers of undergraduates tend not to let students look after difficult patients.

MichaelEdits.com






Watson and Crick show how it’s done

We wish to suggest a structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid (D.N.A.). This structure has novel features which are of considerable biological interest.

Why is this a good example?




It is direct. “We wish to suggest…” not In this communication is made a suggestion….




It comes straight to the point. They could have started with a general statement about DNA: Deoxyribose nucleic acid is a nucleotide that has been isolated from many species. We wish to suggest…. To write this would have reduced the impact.




They make two simple statements in two short sentences. They could have linked the sentences: We wish to suggest a structure for the salt of DNA that has novel features that are of considerable biological interest. This version is more clumsy and also ambiguous: it is not clear now whether it is the suggested structure, or the salt of DNA itself, that has the novel features.




They are not afraid of using the same word, structure, twice. Many writers would have started the second sentence with a pronoun, such as It…, or used a synonym, such as This configuration…; neither device would have been as effective as repeating structure.




Every word is necessary: “We wish to suggest a structure for the salt…” not We propose a possible structural hypothesis concerning the salt…. They even avoid molecular structure, there being no other type of structure to which they could be referring. And, while most writers would probably write We would like to… they use the elegant “We wish to…”.




Every word is the correct word, particularly novel (of new kind or nature, strange, hitherto unknown.) They write “features which are of considerable biological interest” not features associated with considerable biological interest.

MichaelEdits.com






educational seminar about editing and proofreading

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