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Read over your written piece. Check your spelling. Check your grammar. Check your punctuation. Read each sentence separately. Vary sentence structure. Rewrite sentences that include overused words. Maintain an appropriate tone. Ask a trusted friend or advisor to read over your work.

Article:
It helps to have a hard copy and a red pen, but this is not necessary. A misspelled word can change the entire meaning of the entire sentence. Don't rely on your spellchecker. If you aren't certain about a word look it up in the dictionary. Commonly misspelled words are: misspelled, received, believe, a lot, their, occurred, definitely. Without proper grammar, the written piece can become confusing. Jumping between tenses and points-of-view is difficult for a reader to follow.  Consistently remain in one point-of-view. These are first-person (I/me), second-person (you), and third-person (he/she/they). Make sure your tenses match. Example: They were playing outside and are hungry. "Are" should be "were." Look closely at passive sentences. Passive sentences are sentences where the subject is receiving the action, rather than performing the action. A passive voice example: "The ball was kicked by him." vs. the active: "He kicked the ball." Not all passive voice sentences are wrong, but they should be used with care. Are you using commas, semicolons, periods correctly? Link Commas, in particular, are used incorrectly and people often avoid using semicolons altogether.  One common punctuation error is the comma splice. Example: "The hike is hard, so bring some water." The comma is unnecessary. Do not use commas for periods. Example: "The water is very blue, the ship is big." The Oxford Comma: this is an optional comma, but it often serves to make the listing of items in a sentence clearer. A well-known example: "We invited the strippers, JFK, and Stalin." The comma comes after "JFK." Without it that sentence reads: "We invited the strippers, JFK and Stalin." The lack of comma turns JFK and Stalin into the strippers. Periods and commas always go inside quotations marks in the U.S. Example: "There are many birds here," said Bill. For the U.K. and Canada, the rules are different. Ask yourself if the sentence makes sense independent of the surrounding sentences. Each sentence must act as a complete thought.  Avoid sentence fragments: "The English Language is complicated. As it is a conglomeration of Latin, early French, and early German." This should be one sentence. Starting a sentence with "because" is only acceptable in a few instances. Example: "Because the sentence was so difficult he could not complete it." Alternate with long and short sentences. This will break the monotony of too many similar-sounding sentences. Language should be lyrical and interesting, even in an essay.  Long sentences tend to provide more information. They may have several clauses with various kinds of punctuation. Short sentences are more likely used to make a point. These words are not intrinsically bad, but need to be used with care. A few examples are:  all a lot like as if due to the fact Most adverbs like: slowly, really, very, suddenly, lovely, friendly. There are differences between writing an essay, an article, and a novel. If you are writing an essay tone, especially, can dock you points.  For an essay, avoid first person and phrases like "I think." It is best to remain in third person. An article or story can be more lax depending on its type, and may use any of the three perspectives. Unless specified by the teacher, and essay should not be informal. A second pair of eyes is always better. Make sure that this person knows their stuff and will be honest about it.