‘tightened’ by deleting words or changing your sentence
construction. Remember to write in ‘proper English’. Avoid
totally any temptation to use colloquial or ‘texting’ language
popular on mobile phones.
◆ Check your spelling.
◆ Check your punctuation.
◆ Is each paragraph indented the same amount of space?
◆ Have you begun your dialogue with a new paragraph?
◆ Have you kept to the same tense throughout? (Most
essays and stories are written in the past tense.)
◆ In your short story have you kept to the same ‘person’
throughout? Is it written in the first or the third person?
(See Chapter 1.)
◆ Have you used colloquial language?
◆ Before writing or typing your fair copy, look to see if you
can replace any words with better ones. Make sure
you haven’t repeated words unnecessarily.
Checking the essay
◆ Keep to the point and keep the title in front of you at all
times.
◆ Write notes in your own words. Don’t copy from a book.
◆ Keep notes brief.
◆ Make a bibliography.
◆ Plan your work carefully.
WRITING AN ESSAY AND A SHORT STORY / 107