Sunday, October 6, 2013

Professor Matthew Bamberg's Writing Process Quick Guide

To be honest, writing wasn't always easy for me, but I have developed a few techniques that help. When I write a sentence, I think about it in terms of a set of phrases that are put together so that they include a subject and verb. Of course in complex and compound sentences there are often more than one subject and/or one verb.

I also write using the traditional steps--brainstorm, outline (for longer pieces), rough draft written using as the outline as a guide, revision, editing to produce a final draft.
1. The first is to go over that webpage I have written (http://www.commoncorestandardslinks.com/2013/09/three-common-grammar-errors.html) about the three errors. I grade a lot of papers, and most students make the same errors.
2. I proofread twice, once when I'm finished with a sentence and once when I'm finished the draft. This usually catches most errors. If the work is for an editor or other professional purposes, I sit on it overnight and edit it once more the next day. 
3. For spelling and some grammar, I use the spell check. On most computers there is a built in spell check that enables you to select the word you want to spell correctly and control click on a Mac. It's probably left-click on a PC.  If I can't find the word in the spell check, I type in the word spelled as best as I can into Google to find out the correct spelling. With some words I have to go through several sample spellings in order for Google to find the word I want.
4. For grammar, I use the Purdue Owl writing website. When I can't figure out whether to use a capital letter or a comma/semicolon/colon, I type the problem I am having into Google along with the words Purdue Owl (or just Purdue). The answer I'm looking for is usually one of the first three entries of the result that Google comes up with, showing the Purdue OWL webpage I need to look at. Purdue also has a quick reference page for commas. You can get there by typing in Purdue comma quick rules.