# 599 Accept Judgment Day: Let Others Edit Your Work

I know you hate having to show other people your writing. It is a very personal and sacred thing. You might be nervous about what someone is going to think about what you have to say but the truth is, you’re going to have to let another human being read and edit your writing if you want it to be a good piece.

We have been doing this for years. Starting in grade school. We would write an essay or a paper and let others look for common errors and what not.

It is no big deal. No one honestly cares about what you write. As long as it is not offensive or illegal or anything. This is Composition 2 not your hang out on Saturday night lets keep it PG people.

Even though Mr. N is pretty lenient and cool for a teacher, letting us watch the double rainbow video 10 times and demonstrating his several different mixes of Irish and Jamaican accents and all.

So, after you have edited, revised, and adjusted every little detail you can think of, it is a great idea to let someone else, someone you trust, read your work. An outsider’s perspective is great when it comes to writing. Another mind may ultimately catch what you, the author, have missed.

You may also want to get a teacher’s opinion on a paper before you submit the project for a grade. That way you have the best shot at getting the best grade you can.

I mean it is really up to you, fail or let other people see your thoughts written down on paper.

-Olivia Herr

#656 Love Hearing Your Own Voice? - Read Your Paper Aloud

Reading out loud, may not seem like the most fun or important thing to do when when writing a paper. But as it turns out, it is actually very useful and helpful.

Of course, this tip is something the genius of a teacher, Mr. Neuendorf taught my Composition 2 class this semester. He suggested doing this before you turn in your paper.

So after all of the editing is done and all of the things you can think of have been adjusted, you read from start to end and mark errors as you go. Hearing the words out loud may be useful in finding what does or does in fact not work.

You'll be able to tell what sounds right and what doesn't make sense at all that you may not have figured out when reading silently in your head. Like sentences that don't contribute to the purpose at all or words that are mixed up.

It might even be a good idea to read the paper backwards or to a family member or friend, someone you trust to tell you the truth.

That way, you make sure you have every piece of the puzzle set in place. You have a strong intro, a good thesis, supporting paragraphs, maybe citations, and a conclusion.

Take it from me, I did not read my paper aloud and I'm positive it could have benefitted from doing this extra step. Try it and find out. Doing the exercise couldn't hurt one bit. Good Luck!

-Olivia Herr

#20 Gather Credible Sources

When writing a paper it is important to gather many sources. The best ones to use are credible and easy to play off of. Use these sources to strengthen your argument by either having them agree with your own thoughts or by countering your argument. When rounding up these sources it is also important ensure that they are well known and respected. Because if you choose ones that no one has ever heard of your argument won’t have much solidarity.

Some of the best sources can be those that disagree with your opinion. When using these, your paper can gain credibility and quell questions that may arise within the reader. The best way to present these is to state your argument, quote theirs, and then offer your rebuttal.

When using sources that are for your argument it is best to state how it strengthens your point of view, provide a quote that backs it up, and then show how your source agrees with your point of view.

Here is a link to evaluating the credibility of online sources.

#21323 Shorting Paper when to Long

While writing a paper I notice a lot of times that I write too much on a specific subject. So I really need to cut down on the parts that are to long. Half the time I am pretty sure I don’t need all of what I wrote anyway. So what I do is I reread what I wrote take out what I think doesn’t need to be their. Then go to a friend, family member, or even teacher and ask them if they would read my paper and make changes. A lot of time I find myself rambling along in the paper, which should not happen in some cases. You should have your point of view if the paper calls for it but you should also have facts that back you up for your point.

Some ways to cut back are making sure it’s the length of what the teacher wants for a paper. Making sure that you has all your main points pointed out and easy to read. Taking out things that meaningless sentences are not in the paper. Put stronger words into your paper that can make the paper stronger. While you read and you feel like you really don’t need that part then delete it or make it to something that can be needed.

Ask for other options on the paper if you not really sure on weather or not you would like to delete it. Doing this can really help you because they can give you reasons as to why they don’t think it is needed.

By: Brianne Minard

#2123 Watch Spelling and Grammar

Watching spelling and grammar is something that you have to keep the look out for while writing your paper. Yes mistakes happen and they really can’t be helped. But there are many ways that you can make sure that your paper has perfect spelling and grammar. Having people read over your paper for you and mark what they notice is wrong. Going to see a tutor and asking them to look over it. Hand in a draft to you teacher and asking if they would make corrections. Even going to the dictionary to find words that you are not sure on will help you out. Some people don’t notice that grammar and spelling are important that is something that you use daily in your job or just for yourself.

When typing your paper it is also important to stay away form short terms or ‘internet slang’ some people would like to call it. I really don’t think that teacher appreciate it. Many people have troubles with this in my case I really cant spell so having many people look over my paper to make sure that I had all mistakes taken care of instead of leaving them just to sit their and be deducted points.

People also are dependent on spell check on your computer. Which works you just have to make sure it’s the right word some of the spell checks like to put another word in place of the one you had. So to make sure it is right, read over the sentences and also read paper once over.

By: Brianne Minard

#211 Making Sure Punctuation is right!

Making sure that your punctuation is right in your paper is very important. If punctuation is not right then your paper is not very good. It helps many people to go through their paper and reread what they wrote to make sure that they have everything in order. Also they are having punctuation right as well. Teacher can take off many points if many things are wrong like punctuation, spelling, grammar and so on. While reading through your paper make sure that you don’t have any run-on sentences if you do. Try to figure out how you can change it or rewrite the sentences. Some of the main problems people have with punctuation are Apostrophes for Plurals, Comma Splices, Quotation Marks, Multiple Punctuation Marks, Punctuation Outside of Quotation Marks, and Missing Comma After Introductory Elements. These punctuation marks can really help some people with their paper. Not many think about how punctuation helps with their paper.

First Apostrophe for Plurals- apostrophe is used to form contractions and indicate possession, but never to form plurals.

Second Comma Splice- the comma is used to separate independent clauses, there must be a conjunction connecting them.

Third Quotation Marks- is mainly used to quote speech, sentences or words. Sometimes they can be used to denote irony.

Fourth Multiple Punctuation Marks- limit yourself to one exclamation point. Exclamation points are not used that frequently in business and formal writing.

Fifth Punctuation Outside of the Quotation Marks- punctuation should go inside the quotation marks, even if it is not part of the quotation itself.

Sixth Missing Comma After Introductory Elements- don’t forget to place a comma after that introductory element. Notice that an introductory element can be a sentence or a single word.

Making sure that all these are in place in your paper should really help you out on your paper!

By: Brianne Minard

#7 Speling Doezn't Matter

One of the fundimental things I lerned in Compisition class was speling doezn’t matter. Mr. N is an Inglish teecher and he nver speled nything corectly. Just make shur that your punktuation and grammar is rite and you’ll be fine. I no this just sounds absird but that’s just how it is. You wuld think that speling wuld be one of the most emportant things to have corect on an inglish paper but its not. I was nver a very good speler to begin with so its fine with me. Now you won’t evr hav to worr-e about uzing spel check or nything. I just want to thnk Mr. N for opening up my eyes to this. If it wazn’t for him and the Compisition class, I’d still be worr-eing too much on speling airors.

Since were on the subjekt of speling, it brings me to think of a speling bee. I always hated thos things. I meen who cares who can spel a really long, complikated word that no one evr really uses in day to day conversasion. I was in a speling bee once and I won. I don’t know how I did tho. I think the other kids just gave up becauze they’re boreing. But I gess it’s cool tho becauze I can say I’ve won a speling bee before.

So the nects time you go to spel check your paper, rethink and remember, speling doezn’t matter.

Come at me bro! :)

Brittany Parlee

Writing tip #9809468 Writing as a recursive process

Mike Hertz

Comp2 MWF 12:20-1:15

Writing tip #9809468 Writing as a recursive process

Writing as a recursive process is a major process in writing which every writer should use after every draft. My composition one teacher was the teacher he taught me this and kept preaching it to me. Writing as a recursive process is when after completing a draft or part of the writing process. Writing as a recursive process means your always circling back and looking at what you have written.

With writing as a recursive process starts with as soon as the first draft was written. When you back and look at what you have written your checking it for, grammatical errors, spelling errors, narrowing topic down, and proof reading. Peer review is also another way of using writing as a recursive process. With peer review other people are looking at what you have written and spell checking it and giving suggestions on how they think that you could improve your paper. With their suggestions and your corrections to your errors you then can write a second draft thats even better with less errors and that is written better. When you complete your second draft you then look back at your second draft and see what you improved on and what still needs improving on. You look at your topic and make sure you stuck to it and that it’s narrow enough for the paper.

I like using this writing step because it ensures that you have kept you topic narrow and that your paper will likely be free of most errors. The recursive process is helpful in many ways and here is the way to do it.

Mike Hertz

Comp2 MWF 12:20-1:15

Writing tip #8459734 Annotated Bibliography

Mike Hertz

Comp2 MWF 12:20-1:15

Annotated bibliographies are now a major part of my writing. This year my composition two professor had us make annotated bibliographies for our sources for our paper. When he first gave us the assignment I had no clue what an annotated bibliography was. I quickly learned what an annotated bibliography was though after we were given the assignment.

Annotated Bibliographies are when you use the sources that you found for your paper and cite them, summarize them, evaluate them and lastly reflect on the source. Bibliographies are a very useful tool when writing papers. If you have a good annotated bibliography that is most of your paper right there. The major part of your bibliography is summarizing the sources. Summarizing the sources will help you to read them completely and pluck as much information as possible out. When you start writing you paper you will be able to use the bibliographies as your information for your paper beings it will be what came from you sources. Bibliographies are basically the frame work to your paper. Before you start writing you can cut up you bibliographies and organize them essentially as your outline to help guide you through writing your paper. They will give you all your information that you would want to use in one spot so that when you have a good writing flow going you won’t have to stop and search through your information in order to cite it. When writing us bibliographies they will help you in writing your paper tremendously. Here are some examples of bibliographies.

Mike Hertz

Comp2 MWF 12:20-1:15

#5456 Messing Around

Messing with people. There are people out there who find amusement in messing with other people. There are many ways to mess with people whether it is vandalism, pranks, being annoying, or just making them look like a fool. Everywhere you go you will find people who don't care what other people think of them but as long as they can get a laugh at other people. There are plenty of T.V. shows that do exactly that such as Jackass. I couldn't think of a good topic to "blog" about for my third post so I'm just going to write about different ways to screw with people, Using morph suits are great for making people confused. Just walking behind people at Walmart with a morph suit on can be very entertaining too watch someone turn around and look at what seems like a member of the blue man group. You can also mess with people on the internet by trolling. This is when you just try to offend or make fun of a certain person or group and force them to respond to you. The reactions of people is what makes messing with them the best part, whether the reactions are hostile or friendly, the reaction is what makes messing with people so much fun.

Trey Lovell

#3003

Writing tip #945958 Finding as much information as possible.

Written by Mike Hertz

Comp2 MWF 12:20-1:15

Finding as much information as possible when writing a paper.

Have you ever tried to start writing a paper and you just can’t start? Or how about have you ever been in the middle of writing a paper and ran out of information? Lastly what about have you ever been writing a paper and just kept rambling on bull spitting the paper in order to finish and meet the required length?

There is a simple solution for this common problem that people have when writing papers when they get stuck and don’t know what to write or they run out of ideas. The solution is called research people and lots of it. Writing a paper is easy when you have all the information that you need in front of you that you can just look at as you need it instead of having to stop writing and go look for that piece of information or more information. Writing can be a complicated process and if your not ready to write in that you don’t have enough information writing can be a real pain in the rear. Before you start writing that term paper or research paper go to the internet, books, articles or any source of information and find as much information as possible. Your paper needs this information otherwise it will lack content. Also, quite frankly a good professor will pick up that your just bull shitting your way through the paper and they will dock you for it. So before you start that paper. Find as much information as possible!

Here are steps in finding information for that research paper that you have to write.

Written by Mike Hertz

Comp2 MWF 12:20-1:15

#29 Top 10 Writing Errors

Here is a list of the Top 10 Common Errors made in the English writing world. I will explain what the error means if it is not already self explanatory, give you an example that is incorrect, then show the correct way.

Top 10 Errors:

1. Comma Splice - put two complete sentences together into one sentence.

Incorrect: I was up all night studying I am tired this morning.

Correct: I was up all night studying, and I am tired this morning

2. Run on sentence

Incorrect: Mr. N was hit by a school bus he was late for class.

Correct: Mr. N was hit by a school bus. He was late for class.

3. Incomplete sentence

Incorrect: After Composition class

Correct: After Composition class I have Chemistry.

4. Intro clause comma missing - putting a comma after an introduction.

Incorrect: Before I went to DMACC I went to Southeast Polk

Correct: Before I went to DMACC, I went to Southeast Polk

5. Semi-colon misusage

Incorrect: The paper was finished I had spent hours writing it.

Correct: The paper was finished; I had spent hours writing it.

6. Misplaced Modifier

Incorrect: I nearly wrote this blog in six hours.

Correction: I wrote this blog for nearly six hours.

7. Singular Plural Disagreement

Incorrect: There are a book on the table

Correct: There is a book on the table.

8. Verb Tense Shift

Incorrect: I wrote the paper then turn it in

Correct: I wrote the paper then turned it in

9. Missing Apostrophe

Incorrect: Hes not going to be in class today.

Correct: He’s not going to be in class today.

10. Comma missing from items in a series

Incorrect: Mr. N likes double rainbows mice hair and school bus drivers

Correct: Mr. N likes double rainbows, mice hair, and school bus drivers.

Brittany Parlee