KS3 · English

Editing and improving your writing

Everyone says “check your work”. But checking can mean two very different jobs, and mixing them up is how a story stays flat. Let’s pull them apart.

English · Editing and improving

Fix it or improve it?

Pick a change, then pick the job it belongs to. Ask yourself: is it fixing a mistake, or making the writing work better?

Still to sort

Proofreading (0)

Correcting a small error.

Where the line is: If the old version contained a small error, putting it right is proofreading.

Rewriting (0)

Reworking the writing for effect.

Where the line is: If the old version had no error but wasn’t working well, reworking it is rewriting. It’s the larger task, because you’re thinking about the effect you want.

8 of 8 still to sort.

Eight changes were made to eight different story drafts. Decide, change by change, which job each one is.

Watch out: Word swaps turn up on both sides. Correcting “freezeing” is proofreading, but swapping “bad” for “savage” is rewriting. Same move, different job, so always ask what the swap is for.

Same shed, two versions

The draftvsThe reworked version

Hear both versions in your head. Which one would you want to keep reading?

Focus

The paragraph

The draft

I walked into the shed. I looked at the shelves. I saw a big box. I opened it. I saw a nice lantern. I picked it up.

The reworked version

Inside the shed, the shelves sagged under years of dust. Wedged at the back sat a bulky box. When I lifted the lid, a brass lantern gleamed up at me. I picked it up.

The insight

Same shed, same lantern. What changed is how the writing works on the reader.

Rhythm

The draft

Almost every sentence begins with “I”, so it plods along in the same shape each time.

The reworked version

The sentences begin in different ways and are built differently, so the rhythm keeps moving.

Word choice

The draft

“Big” and “nice”: words that were never really chosen.

The reworked version

“Bulky” and “gleamed”: words picked to suit the scene.

What the reader gets

The draft

A list of things that happened.

The reworked version

A scene they can picture.

English · Proofreading

Proofread it, one focus at a time

A story draft with six small slips. Four reads, one focus each.

Mia pulled up her hood and hurried along the cliff path. The wind howled in her ears and the Sea roared below. At last she reached the old hut and pushed at door.

Their was a lantern on the table. Mia lit it carefuly and sat down to wait. Slowly the room fills with warm light. She listened to the storm Nothing could reach her here.

Question 1 of 4

Read with one focus: full stops and capital letters. Tap the words just before a missing full stop, and the word with a capital it shouldn’t have.

Tap the words in the passage that prove your answer.

English · The writing process

Which stage comes when?

Where each stage falls in the writing process

1 · First stage4 · Last stage

  1. Draft

    Getting the writing down.

  2. Proofread

    Reading through and correcting small errors.

  3. Plan

    Deciding what to write.

  4. Edit

    Amending vocabulary, grammar and structure.

English · Your turn

Improve this draft

We walked onto the beach. We saw a boat. We climbed into the boat. We found a box under the seat It was a good box. We opend it and found a nice map.

Rewrite the draft below so it works better: vary how the sentences begin and replace at least two flat words with words chosen to suit the scene. Then proofread your version last, ideally reading it aloud, and put right any small errors. [4 marks]

0 words · your answer stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

What you need to know

  • Improving writing is two jobs, not one: rewriting and proofreading. They are not the same thing.
  • Rewriting is the larger job. You think about the effects you want and rework sentence structure and vocabulary.
  • Several sentences beginning with the same words don’t give an engaging rhythm, so rework how they begin and are built.
  • Have a goA draft goes: “The dog ran. The dog barked. The dog jumped.” What’s wrong with the rhythm, and is fixing it proofreading or rewriting?

    Every sentence starts the same way. Fixing that is rewriting.

    Repeated openings don’t give an engaging rhythm. Reworking how sentences begin and are built is the larger task of rewriting, not a small-error fix.

  • Choose words deliberately. Ask whether each one is the most appropriate; well-chosen words evoke the scene and create effects.
  • Have a goThe scene is a dark, dripping cave. Which word fits better: “nice” or “gloomy”? What question did you ask yourself?

    “Gloomy”. Is it the most appropriate word for the scene?

    Choosing deliberately means asking whether each word is the most appropriate one. “Nice” doesn’t evoke the cave; “gloomy” does.

  • Proofreading means reading through your work and correcting any errors. It is the final stage of the writing process.
  • Proofreading checks for small errors, often grammatical. It corrects them rather than rewriting everything in full.
  • Have a goYour classmate Sam says, “I proofread my story by rewriting every sentence from scratch. Very thorough!” What do you tell Sam?

    Proofreading corrects small errors. It isn’t rewriting everything in full.

    Rewriting is the larger task. Proofreading checks for small errors, often grammatical, and fixes them without redoing the whole piece.

  • Look for six small errors: a missing word, a missing full stop, a wrongly capitalised word, a misspelt word, a homophone, a tense change part-way.
  • Three strategies help: read aloud, read backwards (word by word, to catch spelling), or read with one focus, such as punctuation.
  • Reading aloud shows you what’s great and what to change. It lets you hear errors and check your writing makes sense grammatically.

The big picture

Improving a piece of writing is two jobs, not one. Rewriting is the larger job: you think about the effects you want and rework sentence structure and vocabulary. Proofreading is the final stage: you read through and correct small errors such as a missing word, a missing full stop, a wrongly capitalised word, a misspelt word, a homophone or a tense change part-way through. Reading aloud, reading backwards and reading with a particular focus all help you proofread.

Key points

1Rewriting reworks sentence structure and vocabulary to improve how the writing affects the reader.
2Proofreading corrects small errors and is the final stage of the writing process.
3Look for a missing word, a missing full stop, a wrongly capitalised word, a misspelt word, a homophone and a tense change part-way through.
4Reading aloud, reading backwards and reading with a particular focus all help you proofread.

Worked example

Problem

Improve this draft in the right order: “Tom ran to the bus stop. Tom saw the bus pull away. Tom shouted. Tom felt bad. He stoped and watched it go”

⚠ Watch out

Thinking proofreading means rewriting the whole piece, or that a quick spelling check is all improving involves. Proofreading corrects small errors and comes last. Rewriting reworks sentence structure and vocabulary for effect. A word swap can be either job, so ask what it’s for.

🧠

Memory hook

Rewrite for effect, proofread for slips. The slips come last.

✓

Check yourself

Think of one change you could make to a draft. Without looking back, say whether it’s proofreading or rewriting, and why. Then say which job comes last.

Flashcards

(12)
What is rewriting?
The larger job: reworking sentence structure and vocabulary, thinking about the effects you want to create.
What is proofreading?
Reading through a piece of writing and correcting any errors. It’s the final stage of the writing process.
Proofreading or rewriting? How can you tell?
Proofreading checks for small errors, often grammatical. Rewriting is a larger task that means thinking about the effects you want. They’re not the same thing.
Plan, draft, edit, proofread: which stage comes last?
Proofread. It’s the final stage of the writing process.
What’s the problem with several sentences in a row starting with the same words?
They don’t give an engaging rhythm. Rework how the sentences begin and are built.
What should you ask about each word you choose?
Is it the most appropriate one? Well-chosen words evoke the scene and create effects for the reader.
Does a better word mean a longer, more complex word?
No. It means the most appropriate word for the scene: the one that evokes it and creates the effect you want.
What does reading your work aloud help you do?
Spot what’s great and what you want to change. You hear errors and can check it makes sense grammatically.
What does “reading backwards” mean when you proofread?
Going through the words one at a time instead of reading for sense, which helps catch spelling errors. It doesn’t mean reversing sentences.
What does “reading with a particular focus” mean?
Checking one area at a time, such as punctuation, instead of hunting for everything at once.
Name the six small errors to look for when proofreading.
A missing word, a missing full stop, a wrongly capitalised word, a misspelt word, a homophone used for the intended word, and a verb that changes tense part-way.
What is a homophone error?
A word that sounds like the one you meant is used by mistake, for example “their” where “there” was intended.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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