This editing technique has proven to work well for the students I have who use it. Here are the steps:
1: Recognize: when language is too wordy (too complicated) it means you probably don’t know what you are trying to say yet.
2. Discover: what you want to say. In order to do this, ignore what you wrote, and try to verbalize what you mean in as many words as you need. Do this out loud. Forget what you wrote and just talk.
3. Restate what you mean on paper within a word limit (ie., 15 or fewer). Try to do this either out loud or on paper - one way may work better for you.
4. Clarify and hone your language: If you are doing near-to-final editing, you should use an online thesaurus or dictionary program to verify that you have chosen precise, accurate words.
1: Recognize: when language is too wordy (too complicated) it means you probably don’t know what you are trying to say yet.
2. Discover: what you want to say. In order to do this, ignore what you wrote, and try to verbalize what you mean in as many words as you need. Do this out loud. Forget what you wrote and just talk.
3. Restate what you mean on paper within a word limit (ie., 15 or fewer). Try to do this either out loud or on paper - one way may work better for you.
4. Clarify and hone your language: If you are doing near-to-final editing, you should use an online thesaurus or dictionary program to verify that you have chosen precise, accurate words.
