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Hi, I'm Kari Wethington for Expert Village.com. Today we are doing Writer's Guide: Self Editing
Basics. Just remember there are five major points when you are editing your own work.
Keep these five major points in mind when you are rereading your work and you will sound
smarter every time. The first thing is to always check your spelling. Use your computer
to check it but also check it yourself for words that your computer might not catch.
Always check for punctuation. Make sure you are using commas correctly. Make sure you
use periods at the end of sentences. Those little details will make a big difference.
Always check for capital letters. You probably know when to use capital letters but make
sure you are not overusing them and make sure you always capitalize people's names. It's
just a common courtesy. Check for sentence structure. Run-on sentences are a big problem,
but so are sentence fragments. Make sure you are using sentences that flow smoothly and
sound smart and get your point across. Also check for word usage. You don't want to be
too informal in your writing but you also don't want to be too formal or use specialized
jargon that your reader won't understand. Make sure you know your audience. When you
check all of these things in your writing you're always going to sound smarter and you're
just going to be a better writer. If you practice every time it won't be work, it will just
be natural.