EDIT YOUR WRITING

In some parts of Africa there is a little less than one Frenchman per twenty British.

When the applause had finally died down, Evans stepped from the rostrum, flushed with excitement and victory, confident that the events of the afternoon would be a millstone in the company's history.

At the age of six, my parents moved to Schenectady with their five children.

Having taken their seats, the principal made his expected announcement.

"...so it is important to learn how to keep the reader on the point without becoming monotonous."

On the shelf were the moth-eaten ladies' hats. Inside the thimble were the purple elephants' helicopters. Outside the tent were the old-fashioned carpenter's tools.

Flying planes can be dangerous.

The teacher was puzzled by the brilliant student's composition.

Proofread your work. No written message is finished until it has been proofread. It is too easy to leave out an important word, add an unnecessary word, or use a wrong word. Errors like these are often no more than slips of the pen, [keyboard, or mouse], easily spotted and corrected; but left uncorrected, they can destroy any serious purpose the writer may have intended. Other errors are much more difficult to find. Proofreading is hard work. You cannot read at your normal speed when you proofread or you will miss the very things you are trying to spot.

The first rule of proofreading is READ SLOWLY.
The second rule of proofreading is READ THOUGHTFULLY.

Recognize ambiguity. A writer who is editing his work has to cope with something much more subtle than typographical errors and "bad grammar." He finds a sentence that has nothing "wrong" with it, but that still needs rewording because it seems to have two possible meanings.

Control your meaning. Writers want always to be in command of their meaning. They do not want to be laughed at when they intend to be serious, nor do they want to be taken seriously when they intend a joke. You can go a long ways towards gaining command of your meaning if you edit your work carefully, correcting the errors that can destroy your purpose.

ASSIGNMENT

Try your skill with ambiguity. Invent or report a 2-sentence conversation that involves a double meaning and has a humorous effect. In other words, write a joke that depends on ambiguity. If possible, use a religious topic or setting.